Hi all. I hope you are keeping well. For those of you who have not already heard from me, I’m Melanie Benedict, the Liberation and Welfare VP at Cambridge SU. As the sabbatical officer who has been primarily working on Trans-Inclusion work at the SU, alongside an incredibly supportive team of staff and sabbatical officers, I want to take the time to recognise the impacts of the political climate we live in on trans students at the University of Cambridge and beyond.
The For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers 2025 case which has led to the legal interpretation of Gender Recognition Certification (GRC) no longer changing an individual’s sex, as well as the increased prominence of gender-critical ideology-based organising has greatly influenced the ways in which universities in the UK can ensure inclusion of transgender students. This legislation has undeniably shaped the access to spaces and sense of community that transgender students once felt they had, in comparison to our current political context. Transgender students are now more than ever vulnerable to policy that directly discriminates against them, as well as covert trans-exclusive practices.
We want to be clear: the SU has and will stand firmly with Trans students. Despite legislative constraints, we will continue to organise and campaign to re-establish the right that trans students once had and still deserve. We recognise that at this difficult time trans students need the space to feel community and care, not to have to keep fighting in their struggle to live freely alone. We at the SU will continue to organise for trans-inclusion: in sports teams, in events, in all university spaces.
I want to affirm that the University Estates team is working towards building planning that is trans-inclusive and compliant. Senior members of the university have begun conversation with students directly impacted by trans-exclusive policy. As students, trans or not, you deserve to have access to university spaces and opportunities, you deserve to enjoy the freedoms of all students, you deserve to have your welfare considered like any other students. This is my commitment to ensuring this happens.
My work has been primarily focussed on trans-inclusion over the past few months, raising inclusion of trans-students, in EDI committee, Sports Committee, Accessibility committee etc. The Presidents have supported this work by raising colleges’ obligations to trans-inclusion as well as the wellbeing and safety of trans students generally. I have and will continue to run trans-inclusive welfare spaces and drop-ins, as well as organising with groups like Butch Soc, the LGBT Society and Gender Agenda to support their work for trans-inclusion in our University. These are students who have shown commitment to organising in support of and as students, and I recognise that my responsibility in this role is not only to organise and scrutinise the university for students, but also empower students who are doing this organising, so that their rage and their desire for fundamental change for trans-inclusion is amplified.
My continued work on this has really shown me how while organising in our university is a fundamental part of the process of ensuring the rights of trans students, I now recognise that my organising must expand beyond this. In the coming months, I will expand my work to also recognise the national context of trans-exclusion and how this climate significantly impacts students in Cambridge too. I will organise spaces, in which we can all collectively organise to effectively scrutinise institutions that have failed to support trans-students because of fear of legal repercussions. We have an opportunity to collectively learn, and grow as organisers to put forward well informed challenges to the legal and political climate through the support of organisations like the Good Law Project, who have already supported my work for trans-advocacy.
While I continue to represent and support trans-students at the University of Cambridge,I want to signpost the support available to trans students at this time. We have made a webpage on the SU website that shows a variety of local and national resources available for support and community. This includes welfare resources like the University Counselling Service as well as community spaces like Butch Soc etc.
On a final note, I want you to know that this is not the end of the conversation. I am not a representative who will send sparing updates and achieve little within that time. I have actively and will continue to communicate my work with relevant societies, share my work on our social media platforms, and blog posts so that knowledge of my work and progress is easily available. My email is available for students to contact me and meet with me and I will be running my second Liberation Forum next term, where Liberation Reps (who are in elected representative roles and J/MCR reps representing minority groups can attend. Please do speak to your representatives to ensure that they attend and represent your voices.
Solidarity,
Melanie