Is a person’s biological sex a relevant category for anthropology, i.e. research on humans? Six researchers from different disciplines wanted to discuss this at a scientific conference in Toronto in mid-November – but that won’t happen; instead, there is an open dispute. The organizers canceled the round for safety reasons and to preserve scientific standards, it was said. The scientists affected sharply criticize this decision: in an open letter they write that the outcome looks very much like an “anti-science reaction to a politicized lobby campaign.”
In science and public life there is less and less talk about biological sex and more about social (English: gender). But for anthropological questions, biological gender (English: sex) is “irreplaceably relevant”: This was what was said in the announcement of the round for the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) and the Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA). The program committee accepted the proposal in July. The researchers now received a short message from the organizers that their session had been canceled. It is said that numerous members of the associations have requested this in the letter. After extensive consultation, it was decided to remove the event from the program “in the spirit of respecting our values, the safety and dignity of our members and the scientific integrity of the program.” The meeting was investigated because “the ideas were presented in a way that would be harmful to trans and LGBTQI members of the anthropological community, as well as the community at large.”
What aspect of the planned lectures would cause such damage is not specified. And after the associations did not previously contact any of the researchers to discuss critical points, The six wrote in an open letter that the cancellation was “a shock.” – particularly because of the accusation that the ideas being discussed are being put forward in order to harm someone. They are surprised that the AAA and CASCA have made it their official position that “supporting the continued use of biological gender categories such as male and female, man and woman, endangers the safety of the LGBTQI community.”
The scientists describe the accusation that their lectures would endanger the scientific integrity of the program as “outrageous”. Anthropologists around the world would see the decision to “ban our panel” as a “declaration of war on dissent and scientific controversy.” “If our panel had been admitted, we would have looked forward to a lively debate – probably even among ourselves, as our views are very different.”