Universities offer thousands of pounds in grants for fake breasts and chest binders for trans and non-binary students
- University College London offers £5,000 towards clothing or beauty products
Universities are offering thousands of pounds in grants to trans and non-binary students for fake breasts and chest binders, the Mail can reveal today.
At the University of Kent, students can get up to £100 to put towards ‘gender-affirming products’ and even ‘minor cosmetic procedures’.
University College London has set aside almost £5,000 to help students buy ‘clothing, beauty products or travel for medical or therapy appointments’.
Critics slammed the schemes as ‘a mind-boggling example of virtue signalling’ and demanded that universities stop wasting money.
Conservative MP Lia Nici said: ‘Universities need to be supporting their students in lectures rather than wasting their supposed cash-strapped organisation’s money on gender ideology, rather than proper scientific research.’
University College London has set aside a fund of almost £5,000 to help students buy ‘clothing, beauty products or travel for medical or therapy appointments’
Toby Young of the Free Speech Union said: ‘It beggars belief that universities are spending money on this nonsense when they’re charging £9,250 a year for tuition and clamouring to put fees up.’
Students who ‘identify as trans, non-binary, intersex or otherwise gender diverse’ can apply to UCL’s ‘Gender Expression Fund’ for a grant of up to £100. The institution, ranked in the top ten universities worldwide, has allocated £4,883.97 to the fund this year.
Grants can be used to help students with the ‘purchase of items that will make them more comfortable with their gender presentation’, the university says. The cash is allocated through a ‘trust-based process based on self-declaration by the student’ and is not subject to checks.
It is part of a wider package of more than £500,000 available through the student union for students affected by rising costs of living.
The union website reads: ‘Grants can be used to purchase gender-affirming products such as clothing, binders, packers and beauty products. Grants will usually be around £50, but in exceptional circumstances may be up to a maximum of £100.’
Packers are used by trans and non-binary people to create bulges suggestive of male genitals.
From next month, trans and non-binary students can apply to the University of Kent’s ‘Gender Affirmation Fund’.
A number of Cambridge and Oxford colleges have similar schemes. Edinburgh University student union, which is funded mainly through a grant from the university, has created a ‘gender-empowerment fund’, and Warwick and Bournemouth University student unions have similar schemes.
At the University of Kent, students can get up to £100 to put towards ‘gender-affirming products’ and even ‘minor cosmetic procedures’
Professor Kathy Armour, UCL’s vice-provost, said: ‘Our gender-expression fund, set up with the UCL Students’ Union, is an important scheme that provides real and practical support to students who may be particularly vulnerable to marginalisation and prejudice.’
A University of Kent spokesman said: ‘The fund is part of our wider package of student support, with those students who have accessed it reporting a positive improvement on their mental health and confidence, as well as their feelings of security and belonging.’
An Oxford University spokesman said: ‘Oxford is committed to supporting the needs of the university’s transgender students, staff and alumni.
‘All trans members of the university deserve to feel safe, valued and supported.’
Cambridge said funds were typically run by local student bodies and not centrally.
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