In a significant development at the University of Auckland, Professor Elizabeth Rata successfully resisted institutional pressure to revise her lecture materials after asserting the scientific view that human biological sex is binary.
The dispute arose when the university’s Equity Office demanded she amend her teaching, claiming that biological sex is not binary—a claim Rata and eight academic signatories, including senior biologists, firmly rejected as scientifically unfounded.
Rata’s stance was bolstered by a detailed scientific statement supporting the binary nature of sex, rooted in gamete production—male (sperm) and female (egg)—with intersex conditions not constituting a third sex. The academics criticized the intrusion of ideology into science education, asserting that biology should not be reshaped to fit sociopolitical narratives.
The university later apologized, acknowledging the Equity Office overstepped its bounds and affirmed that scientific matters would henceforth be deferred to subject experts. Rata called the outcome a victory for academic integrity and disciplinary authority.
🔗 Full article: Bassett, Brash & Hide
