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The Westminster Declaration vs. transgender people

The Westminster Declaration is a 2023 open letter signed by many key anti-transgender extremists.

They claim to be a group of “free speech champions” who oppose the “censorship industrial complex.”

Background

According to an October 2023 announcement about the letter by Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi, Andrew Lowenthal, Leighton Woodhouse, amd Alex Gutentag, “In March of this year, two of us, Matt and Michael, testified to Congress about the existence of a Censorship Industrial Complex comprised of government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and Big Tech companies working together to suppress disfavored views and disfavored people.”

According to their website, “This declaration was the result of an initial meeting of free speech champions from around the world who met in Westminster, London, at the end of June 2023.”

Signatories

Alphabetically by surname:

  • Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Human Rights Activist, Author, Netherlands
  • James Allan, Professor of Law, University of Queensland, UK
  • “Mia Ashton” [Mia Hughes], Journalist, Canada
  • Julian Assange, Editor, Founder of Wikileaks, Australia
  • Stella Assange, Campaigner, UK
  • Diane Atkinson, Historian, Biographer, UK
  • Jonathan Ayling, Chief Executive, Free Speech Union, New Zealand
  • Xavier Azalbert, Investigative Scientific Journalist, France
  • Paolo Cesaretti, Professor of Byzantine Civilization, University of Bergamo, Italy
  • Melissa Chen, Journalist, Spectator, Singapore/US
  • Robert Cibis, Filmmaker, Germany
  • John Cleese, Comedian, Acrobat, UK
  • Adam B. Coleman, Founder of Wrong Speak Publishing, US
  • Alberto Contri, Mass Media Expert, Italy
  • Adam Creighton, Journalist, Australia
  • Richard Dawkins, Biologist, UK
  • Alessandro Di Battista, Political Activist, Writer, Italy
  • Nick Dixon, Comedian, UK
  • Laura Dodsworth, Journalist and Author, UK
  • Lee Fang, Independent Journalist, US
  • Thomas Fazi, Independent Journalist, Italy
  • Efrat Fenigson, Journalist, Podcaster, Israel
  • Niall Ferguson, Historian, Stanford, UK
  • Catherine Austin Fitts, The Solari Report, Netherlands
  • Marcello Foa, Journalist, Former President of Rai, Italy
  • Francis Foster, Comedian, UK
  • Kmele Foster, Journalist, Media Entrepreneur, USA
  • Claire Fox, Founder of the Academy of Ideas, UK
  • Carlo Freccero, Television Author, Media Expert, Italy
  • Dominic Frisby, Comedian, UK
  • Juan Carlos Girauta, Politician, Spain
  • Jill Glasspool-Malone, PhD., USA
  • Sarah Gon, Director, Free Speech Union, South Africa
  • David Goodhart, Journalist, Author, UK
  • Matt Goodwin, Politics Professor, University of Kent, UK
  • Glenn Greenwald, Journalist, US
  • Julius Grower, Fellow, St. Hugh’s College, UK
  • Ulrike Guerot, Founder of European Democracy Lab, Germany
  • Sunetra Gupta, Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology, Oxford, UK
  • Alex Gutentag, Journalist, US
  • Jonathan Haidt, Social Psychologist, NYU, US
  • Philip Hamburger, Professor of Law, Columbia, USA
  • Julia Hartley-Brewer, Journalist, UK
  • Chris Hedges, Journalist, Author, USA
  • Ana Henkel, Independent Journalist, Brazil
  • Heather E. Heying, Evolutionary Biologist, USA
  • Jeremy Hildreth, Independent, UK
  • Peter Hitchens, Author, Journalist, UK
  • Coleman Hughes, Writer, Podcaster, USA
  • Patrick Hughes, Artist, UK
  • Jan Jekielek, Journalist, Canada
  • Helen Joyce, Journalist, UK
  • Izabella Kaminska, Journalist, The Blind Spot, UK
  • Eric Kaufmann, Professor of Politics, Birkbeck, University of Buckingham, Canada
  • Eve Kay, TV Producer, UK
  • Aaron Kheiriaty, Psychiatrist, Author, USA
  • Rueben Kirkham, Co-Director, Free Speech Union of Australia, Australia
  • Konstantin Kisin, Author, UK
  • Martin Kulldorf, Professor of Medicine (on leave), Harvard, US
  • Holly Lawford-Smith, Associate Professor in Political Philosophy, University of Melbourne, Australia
  • Catherine Liu, Cultural Theorist, Author, USA
  • Isabella Loiodice, Professor of Comparative Public Law, University of Bari, Italy
  • Carlo Lottieri, Philosopher, University of Verona, Italy
  • Glenn Loury, Economist, USA
  • Andrew Lowenthal, liber-net, Australia
  • Greg Lukianoff, President and CEO Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, USA
  • Dara Macdonald, Co-Director, Free Speech Union, Australia
  • Robert W. Malone, MD, MS, USA
  • Winston Marshall, Journalist, The Spectator, UK
  • Paola Mastrocola, Writer, Italy
  • Aaron Mate, Journalist, USA
  • Iain McGilchrist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher, UK
  • David McGrogan, Professor of Law, Northumbria University, UK
  • Jacob Mchangama, Author, Denmark
  • John McWhorter, Linguist, Columbia, Author, US
  • Alan Miller, Together Association, UK
  • Stefan Millius, Journalist, Switzerland
  • Stephen Moore, Author and Analyst, Canada
  • Michael Nayna, Filmmaker, Australia
  • Micha Narberhaus, The Protopia Lab, Spain/Germany
  • Leandro Narloch, Independent Journalist, Brazil
  • Andrew Neish, KC, UK
  • Brendan O’Neill, Journalist, UK
  • James Orr, Associate Professor, University of Cambridge, UK
  • Martina Pastorelli, Independent Journalist, Italy
  • Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, Psychologist, Author, Canada
  • Kira Phillips, Documentary Filmmaker, UK
  • Jordi Pigem, Philosopher, Author, Spain
  • Steven Pinker, Psychologist, Harvard, US
  • Helen Pluckrose, Author, US
  • Dirk Pohlmann, Journalist, Germany
  • Nina Power, Writer, UK
  • Nello Preterossi, Professor, University of Salerno, Scientific Director of the Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies, Italy
  • Jean F. Queralt, Technologist, Founder @ The IO Foundation, Malaysia/Spain
  • Luca Ricolfi, Professor, Sociologist, Turin University, Italy
  • Matt Ridley, Journalist, Author, UK
  • Tim Robbins, Actor, Filmmaker, US
  • Andrew Roberts, Historian, UK
  • Piers Robinson, Organization for Propaganda Studies, UK
  • Paul Rossi, Educator, Vertex Partnership Academics, US
  • Gad Saad, Professor, Evolutionary Behavioral Scientist, Author, Canada
  • Jeffrey D. Sachs, Columbia University, US
  • Michele Santoro, Journalist, TV Host, Presenter, Italy
  • Ben Scallan, Gript Media, Ireland
  • Ben Schwarz, Journalist, USA
  • Phil Shaw, Campaigner, Operation People, New Zealand
  • Michael Shellenberger, Public, US
  • Alex Sheridan, Free Speech Ireland
  • Michael Shermer, Science Writer, US
  • Jacob Siegel, Tablet, US/Israel
  • Dr. James Smith, Podcaster, Literature Scholar, RHUL, UK
  • Craig Snider, Independent, US
  • Edward Snowden, Whistleblower, US
  • Alan Sokal, Professor of Mathematics, UCL, UK
  • Juan Soto Ivars, Author, Spain
  • Doug Stokes, International Relations Professor, University of Exeter, UK
  • Oliver Stone, Filmmaker, US
  • Nadine Strossen, Professor of Law, NYLS, US
  • Matt Taibbi, Journalist, US
  • Andrew Tettenborn, Professor of Law, Swansea University,  UK
  • Robert Tombs, Historian, UK
  • Jeffrey Tucker, Author, USA
  • Yanis Varoufakis, Economist, Greece
  • Eli Vieira, Journalist, Genetic Biologist, Brazil
  • Andrea Zhok, Philosopher, University of Milan, Italy
  • Slavoj Žižek, Philosopher, Author, Slovenia
  • David Zweig, Journalist, Author, USA

References

Masnick, Mike ( October 24, 2023). ‘Twitter Files’ Hucksters Are Once Again Cosplaying as Free Speech Martyrs. Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/twitter-files-hucksters-are-cosplaying-as-free-speech-martyrs

Selected writing by signatories

Shellenberger. Michael; Taibbi. Matt; Lowenthal, Andrew; Woodhouse, Leighton; Gutentag, Alex (October 18, 2023). Introducing the Westminster Declaration. https://www.public.news/p/introducing-the-westminster-declaration

Resources

The Westminster Declaration (westminsterdeclaration.org)