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SIPS EC Statement Condemning Anti-Transgender Bigotry and Violence

Rhetoric and violence against transgender people have become widespread. This increase has been accompanied by debates in mainstream academic spaces that undermine the lived experiences of transgender people and erroneously pit transgender people against cisgender women’s safety and rights. Psychology has not been exempt from this. 

The Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science Executive Committee (SIPS EC) condemns anti-transgender bigotry and violence and denounces attempts to invalidate transgender people’s gender identity under the guise of putative scientific facts. This pseudoscientific rhetoric goes against scientific consensus and empowers behaviors that threaten the dignity, well-being, and human rights of transgender people. 

The SIPS EC also affirms its commitment to inclusivity; the Society cannot realize its mission of achieving a broad and diverse research community without being inclusive. Making the field of psychology better requires enabling people with different identities and perspectives to come together to share ideas and knowledge. That members of transgender and gender diverse communities must worry about being harassed, threatened, and assaulted is unacceptable; the egregious harm caused to transgender people is compounded by the loss of their contributions to their scholarly communities. 

Feminism and gender equality are not threatened by accurate and respectful attention to the rights of the transgender community—they are incomplete without it. The SIPS EC, therefore, calls on its members and the larger psychological science community to support transgender scholars and communities by reporting anti-transgender behavior everywhere it occurs, including SIPS events (see our Code of Conduct). We also ask that you read and consider signing this open letter about a high court decision earlier this month that limited self-report of legal sex on the 2021 census in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.  

A scientific community that does not provide psychological safety to all scientists perpetuates harm to those who are targeted and alienates researchers who strengthen the science.

If you wish to signal your support for this statement by the SIPS EC, please complete this form. We will add you to a list of signatories on our website.

Resources:

Fatal Violence Against the Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Community in 2021

SIPS Twitter Thread re: SAGE Methods, February 18, 2021

Open Letter on Collecting High Quality Census Data on Sex and Gender 

SIPS Mission Statement

Signed,

SIPS Executive Committee

The following individuals co-sign this statement:

Heather Urry, PhD, Professor, Psychology, Tufts University
Siobhan Thomas, MS, PhD Researcher, School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork
Lisa DeBruine, PhD, Professor, Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow
Tomiko Yoneda, MS, Graduate Student, Department of Psychology, University of Victoria
Rodrigo de Almeida, MA, Psychologist, Psychology, University of the Basque Country
Esther Maassen, MS, Tilburg University
Jamie Cummins, PhD, Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University
Madeline Harms, PhD, Visiting Assistant Professor, Psychology, Macalester College
Crystal Steltenpohl, PhD, Assistant professor, Psychology, University of Southern Indiana
Marco Schauer
Jens Fuenderich, MA, University of Erfurt
David Bauer, PhD, Professor, Psychology, Viterbo University
Benjamin Le, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Psychology, Haverford College
Yurik Yang, BA, Crisis Center Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia
Gwen van der Wijk, MA, PhD candidate, Psychology, University of Calgary



Categories
General

SIPS EC Statement Condemning Anti-Asian Bigotry and Violence

The horrific rise of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year has sparked an equally horrific rise in racism and vicious attacks against Asian people.* In the most recent stark example just last week, a shooter in Atlanta, Georgia, USA murdered eight people, including six Asian women. Sadly, the rise in anti-Asian racism and violence is not limited to the United States; it is a global phenomenon.

The Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science Executive Committee (SIPS EC) condemns anti-Asian bigotry and violence. The SIPS EC is committed to working against anti-Asian bigotry and violence, white supremacy, and bias in all of our activities. Last summer the EC released a statement on anti-Black racism and police brutality; while some of the activities highlighted there have the potential to benefit Asian researchers and members of other minoritized groups, we do not assume that they will be sufficient to address all problems for all communities. Moreover, we understand this to be an ongoing process and remain committed to continuing to build a safe, diverse, inclusive community. 

For now, we call on ourselves and everyone in the psychological science community to support scholars who are targets of anti-Asian harassment or violence. If we observe demeaning, harassing, or aggressive behavior against someone else, Asian or otherwise, we must speak up. And if we belong to organizations that sponsor communal scientific activities like workshops and conferences, let’s ask them to establish clear codes of conduct that support inclusive engagement (see, for example, the Code of Conduct for SIPS events). 

The people killed in the shootings in Atlanta, their families, and their communities are very much in our thoughts: Daoyou Feng, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Paul Andre Michels, Soon Chung Park, Xiaojie Tan, Delaina Ashley Yaun, and Yong Ae Yue. Also in our thoughts are the Asian members of our scientific community who are most deeply affected by the increasing bigotry and violence against Asian people everywhere. 

If you wish to signal your support for this statement by the SIPS EC, please complete this form. We will add you to a list of signatories on our website.

Resources:

*Covid-19 Fueling Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia Worldwide, May 12, 2020

SIPS Statement Condemning Racism and Police Brutality, June 16, 2020

*As Lunar New Year approaches, many Asians worry about future journeys, February 11, 2021

*The Rise In Anti-Asian Attacks During The COVID-19 Pandemic, March 10, 2021

What we know about the victims of the Atlanta shootings, March 20, 2021

SIPS Mission Statement

Asian Mental Health Collective

Signed,

SIPS Executive Committee

The following individuals co-sign this statement:

Heather Urry, PhD, Professor, Psychology, Tufts University
Lisa DeBruine, PhD, Professor, Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow
Tomiko Yoneda, MS, Graduate Student, Department of Psychology, University of Victoria
Esther Maassen, MS, Tilburg University
Jamie Cummins, PhD, Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University
Madeline Harms, PhD, Visiting Assistant Professor, Psychology, Macalester College
Crystal Steltenpohl, PhD, Assistant professor, Psychology, University of Southern Indiana
Marco Schauer
Tianze Sun, BA, PhD Candidate, Psychology, The University of Queensland
David Bauer, PhD, Professor, Psychology, Viterbo University
Benjamin Le, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Psychology, Haverford College
Yurik Yang, BA,Crisis Center Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia
Gwen van der Wijk, MA, PhD candidate, Psychology, University of Calgary