Gender-critical academic sues Bristol over disrupted talk

A gender-critical academic has threatened to sue the University of Bristol over its handling of a guest lecture that was disrupted by transgender rights activists.

Alice Sullivan, professor of sociology at UCL, has announced her intention to bring a challenge in the High Court over claims Bristol failed to take necessary steps to safeguard her right to freedom of speech by placing numerous restrictions on a talk that took place on 22 October. The university denies the claims.

Sullivan, the author of the Sullivan Review detailing how public data was increasingly being collected on the basis of gender, rather than biological sex – was initially due to speak about her research at Bristol in November 2024.

However, senior university figures insisted the event took place online-only following reports of planned protests and a complaint from the LGBTQ+ staff network over Sullivan’s alleged “transphobia”.

After she declined to participate in an online seminar, an in-person event was arranged for May 2025. However, this talk was called off when Sullivan objected to the university’s failure to advertise it and its decision to close it to the public.

The event was rescheduled for October but the number of tickets was limited to 60 – 30 for the university and 30 for the public – despite the venue having a capacity of 100.

Undergraduates were prohibited from attending the event, with university tickets limited to postgraduates and staff at the School for Policy Studies, according to information obtained by Sullivan using a subject access request.

Despite the university withholding the location for the lecture until the day of the event – and no advertising on social media – trans rights protesters were able to stage a picket when Sullivan arrived. Watched by police, they later scaled the walls of the Royal Fort House building to bang on windows, make abusive gestures and shout through megaphones.

According to legal documents seen by Times Higher Education, Sullivan claims “security guards failed to stop this disruptive and intimidating conduct”. The talk was also interrupted when the fire alarm went off on several occasions.

Eventually the talk was moved to a larger lecture theatre on a higher floor, with legal papers claiming that the chosen venue was “particularly vulnerable to the protest disruption which they knew would occur”.

In a statement, the university said its actions were necessary to protect the speaker and attendees and were taken to protect freedom of speech, rather than restrict it. 

But Sullivan claims the incident breached academic freedom laws enshrined in the Education Act 1986 and the more recent Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) 2023 Act. She further alleges that the university’s behaviour amounts to “direct discrimination and harassment…on grounds of her gender critical beliefs”.

Restricting access to the event, and the failure to prevent it being disrupted, also represented an unlawful interference with her Article 10 rights to free expression under the Human Rights Act, she maintains.

“It is a central part of the function of universities to provide a space where critical analysis, dialogue and the pursuit of knowledge can occur without fear. If the School of Policy Studies at the University of Bristol cannot safely host a talk about data, statistics and research on sex and gender, something has gone badly wrong,” commented Sullivan.

“Both the obstructiveness of university managers in the run-up to the event, and the aggression of the protest were shocking,” she added.

Kathleen Stock, who resigned as professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex in 2023 after she was targeted over gender-critical views, has backed Sullivan’s case.

“It is depressing to see the University of Bristol treating a distinguished speaker in this way, who was there to talk on a matter of strong public interest,” said Stock.

“It seems managers continue to think their main job is to protect young adults from views they don’t like, thereby stopping interested others from hearing them. This is not what a university is for,” she added.

A University of Bristol spokesperson said Sullivan’s seminar had gone ahead safely “in line with our strong commitment to upholding free speech”.

“Although protestors caused unacceptable disruption, appropriate measures were in place to enable the event to continue and to protect the speaker and attendees.”

The spokesperson said Sullivan had “expressed her gratitude to our security team for their support and subsequently met with our vice-chancellor to discuss what happened”.

“We refute claims that we failed to protect her freedom of speech; every action we took was in support of this and the restrictions she outlines were all necessary for public safety.”

“Our stance is clear – free speech must be lawful. There is no protection within the law for abusive speech that incites violence, harassment or discrimination. Clearly the intimidating behaviour of protestors was not peaceful and we have condemned their unacceptable behaviour. We will take disciplinary action if anyone from the university community is identified as being involved.”

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com