At its November 2025 meeting, the Board of the American Philosophical Association (APA) approved a statement addressed “first and foremost, to trans members of our profession,” and to “those who teach and research in the philosophy of sex and gender, and philosophy that addresses LGBTQ+ issues,” but also to “all philosophers… because threats to any one corner of our academic community are relevant to all of us.”
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The letter continues by describing how this set of developments has affected trans philosophers in their work and lives:
This has had a direct impact on the ability of trans philosophers to research, teach, and live as members of our academic community. We know that some of you have been unable to travel to academic conferences because of legal challenges to gender markers on official documents and legitimate concerns about (re)entry into the US. Some of you have lost grant funding for your research because of its association with trans topics. Some of you have been advised not to teach on LGBTQ+ issues for fear of political backlash, and in some cases, for fear of personal safety. Many of you work at institutions that have been pressured by the US government to adopt campus policies that conform to the new trans-exclusionary definitions of gender. Many of you work with students who have been directly impacted by these actions—students who are rapidly losing institutional and social support and increasingly rely on you as teachers and mentors to help them through all of this. Many of you have sought support for yourselves from your colleagues and home institutions, support that has not always been given.
These developments also affected philosophers who are not trans, as we have recently seen:
The impacts of such policies are not limited to trans members of the philosophical community. These policies aim to curtail both teaching and research on sex and gender, with significant impacts on both academic freedom and those who philosophically engage with questions about sex and gender in the classroom, including being intimidated and in some cases fired.
The letter also discusses the APA’s commitment to academic freedom:
The APA’s mission is to foster open dialogue and the free exchange of ideas, and we recognize that current policies chilling speech about diversity and gender are direct violations of these values. We reaffirm the association’s core values of inclusion and diversity, open and free exchange of ideas, and robust academic freedom on all philosophical matters, including and perhaps especially matters of great moral importance. We deplore attacks on academic freedom concerning the philosophy of sex and gender, whether they come from within the profession or from outside it.
The whole letter is below (and here).
View archived embedded resource on Daily Nous
