Rob Mullins
@robertmullins.bsky.social
Associate Professor, University of Queensland.
Pinned
Rob Mullins
@robertmullins.bsky.social
· Jun 16
Does Nature Need Rights?
Abstract. Rights of nature (RoN) appear to provide a promising alternative to anthropocentric environmental rights. But do they meet the demands of transfo
academic.oup.com
My article "Does Nature Need Rights?" (coauthored with the wonderful Lulu Weis), forthcoming in the OJLS, is now available open access: academic.oup.com/ojls/advance...
Reposted by Rob Mullins
Australian Census on University Staff Wellbeing results are out. Every uni recorded scores indicating high/very high psych risk.
And in news surprising no one, "only senior execs and deans rated their workplaces as medium or low risk while all other staff groups reported high-risk conditions."
And in news surprising no one, "only senior execs and deans rated their workplaces as medium or low risk while all other staff groups reported high-risk conditions."
February 12, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Australian Census on University Staff Wellbeing results are out. Every uni recorded scores indicating high/very high psych risk.
And in news surprising no one, "only senior execs and deans rated their workplaces as medium or low risk while all other staff groups reported high-risk conditions."
And in news surprising no one, "only senior execs and deans rated their workplaces as medium or low risk while all other staff groups reported high-risk conditions."
Reposted by Rob Mullins
Beyond grim. A truly vile regime.
Activists say the death toll from a crackdown over Iran's nationwide protests has reached at least 7,002 with many more people still feared dead.
Deaths in Iran's crackdown on protests reach at least 7,000, activists say
Activists say the death toll from a crackdown over Iran’s nationwide protests has reached at least 7,002 with many more people still feared dead. The U.S.
bit.ly
February 12, 2026 at 1:48 AM
Beyond grim. A truly vile regime.
Reposted by Rob Mullins
As a student and young scholar it was pretty damn confronting to read the screeds of 90s and 00s scholarship coming out in pretty decent US journals from very senior tenured profs that I as a gay man was a biological mistake. And straight colleagues didn't get it.
February 11, 2026 at 6:06 PM
As a student and young scholar it was pretty damn confronting to read the screeds of 90s and 00s scholarship coming out in pretty decent US journals from very senior tenured profs that I as a gay man was a biological mistake. And straight colleagues didn't get it.
Something that John Gardner once said to me, which has stuck with me, is that if you think someone who you respect has views that are bigoted and intolerant, then it it precisely out of respect for them that you should tell them that their views are bigoted and intolerant.
I have had many conversations with people over the past few months that have made it clear to me that many lawyers privately hold similar views to Michael's. I think it is important to criticize them and even to say they are rooted in a kind of bigotry or intolerance.
February 11, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Something that John Gardner once said to me, which has stuck with me, is that if you think someone who you respect has views that are bigoted and intolerant, then it it precisely out of respect for them that you should tell them that their views are bigoted and intolerant.
I feel the need to say that I think that the editors were right to publish this. (Personally, I would have insisted on more inclusive language.) But they should also disclose Michael's former associations with Sex Matters and Policy Exchange.
Michael Foran: Human Rights, Gender Recognition and Single-Sex Spaces ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/02/11/m...
Michael Foran: Human Rights, Gender Recognition and Single-Sex Spaces
In For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers, the Supreme Court held that references to ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 pertained to biological sex. In doing so, it affirmed the default common law…
ukconstitutionallaw.org
February 11, 2026 at 3:44 PM
I feel the need to say that I think that the editors were right to publish this. (Personally, I would have insisted on more inclusive language.) But they should also disclose Michael's former associations with Sex Matters and Policy Exchange.
I gave a paper yesterday in which I argued that the interpretation of sex terms in law is no different from the interpretation of other classifications like "potato product" or "milk". None of them have a "true essence". www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Oatly banned from using word ‘milk’ to market plant-based products in UK
Swedish company claims ruling is anti-competitive and ‘solely benefits Big Dairy’
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:50 PM
I gave a paper yesterday in which I argued that the interpretation of sex terms in law is no different from the interpretation of other classifications like "potato product" or "milk". None of them have a "true essence". www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Rob Mullins
Also, it's been over two decades since Goodwin, and by all indications the Council of Europe has *not* gotten more conservative on this issue since then, quite the contrary.
This is what Goodwin said about "biological" accounts of sex in law. For Foran's argument to work, the Court would have to accept some kind of "biological sex" account, and that is something that they cast doubt on in Goodwin.
February 11, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Also, it's been over two decades since Goodwin, and by all indications the Council of Europe has *not* gotten more conservative on this issue since then, quite the contrary.
This is what Goodwin said about "biological" accounts of sex in law. For Foran's argument to work, the Court would have to accept some kind of "biological sex" account, and that is something that they cast doubt on in Goodwin.
February 11, 2026 at 1:07 PM
This is what Goodwin said about "biological" accounts of sex in law. For Foran's argument to work, the Court would have to accept some kind of "biological sex" account, and that is something that they cast doubt on in Goodwin.
Reposted by Rob Mullins
Very unexpected and welcome news!
QUT will become the new custodian of Meanjin, Australia's most eminent literary journal, bringing the publication back to Brisbane.
www.qut.edu.au/about/meanjin
QUT will become the new custodian of Meanjin, Australia's most eminent literary journal, bringing the publication back to Brisbane.
www.qut.edu.au/about/meanjin
February 11, 2026 at 3:02 AM
Very unexpected and welcome news!
QUT will become the new custodian of Meanjin, Australia's most eminent literary journal, bringing the publication back to Brisbane.
www.qut.edu.au/about/meanjin
QUT will become the new custodian of Meanjin, Australia's most eminent literary journal, bringing the publication back to Brisbane.
www.qut.edu.au/about/meanjin
It says something about our current predicament that the US has a cultural class that can produce the Bad Bunny half-time time show and a political class that can produce the Turning Point USA half-time show.
February 9, 2026 at 9:57 PM
It says something about our current predicament that the US has a cultural class that can produce the Bad Bunny half-time time show and a political class that can produce the Turning Point USA half-time show.
They haven't used this language, but something like the idea of "sex rejection" is the basis of the Sex Matters/EHRC interpretation of the Equality Act. If you don't like something trans people are doing, you can just say you are banning all people, equally, on the basis of their sex.
SCOOP: The Department of Health and Human Services has been using the term “sex-rejecting procedures” to describe gender-affirming care for transgender and nonbinary individuals.
The term is not clinical or medical. It comes from a Christian Right group.
www.importantcontext.news/p/hhs-is-usi...
The term is not clinical or medical. It comes from a Christian Right group.
www.importantcontext.news/p/hhs-is-usi...
HHS Has Been Using Anti-Trans Language From a Christian Right Think Tank
The department refers to gender-affirming care as “sex-denying procedures,” a term coined by the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
www.importantcontext.news
February 9, 2026 at 7:01 PM
They haven't used this language, but something like the idea of "sex rejection" is the basis of the Sex Matters/EHRC interpretation of the Equality Act. If you don't like something trans people are doing, you can just say you are banning all people, equally, on the basis of their sex.
Love the way transphobes seem unable to discuss intersex athletes without also misgendering them and implying they are cheats.
February 8, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Love the way transphobes seem unable to discuss intersex athletes without also misgendering them and implying they are cheats.
I think when people talk about prison policy (with respect to trans people or otherwise), they often overlook the serious harms associated with social deprivation. Isolating prisoners from other people is something that we should be extremely unwilling to do.
February 5, 2026 at 12:39 AM
I think when people talk about prison policy (with respect to trans people or otherwise), they often overlook the serious harms associated with social deprivation. Isolating prisoners from other people is something that we should be extremely unwilling to do.
Reposted by Rob Mullins
I am genuinely really pleased that Sussex under Sasha Roseneil has decided to fight this decision when many other VCs would have simply given in. The OfS decision is such a dangerous precedent for the sector
Stock resigned. So what is the point of this fine and whose interests does it serve?
Certainly not those of the students and staff at University of Sussex.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Certainly not those of the students and staff at University of Sussex.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
University begins High Court challenge against £585k free speech fine
The University of Sussex says the watchdog overstepped its legal powers in imposing the fine last year.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 4, 2026 at 9:59 AM
I am genuinely really pleased that Sussex under Sasha Roseneil has decided to fight this decision when many other VCs would have simply given in. The OfS decision is such a dangerous precedent for the sector
Reposted by Rob Mullins
In this piece for the New York Review of Books, I explain how today’s anti-trans agenda doesn’t just target trans people—it quietly (mostly quietly) dismantles the legal foundations that protect cis women from discrimination. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
The Anti-Trans Playbook | Paisley Currah
The current crusade against trans people imperils not just their rights but the survival of the legal doctrine built to protect all women from discrimination.
www.nybooks.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:25 AM
In this piece for the New York Review of Books, I explain how today’s anti-trans agenda doesn’t just target trans people—it quietly (mostly quietly) dismantles the legal foundations that protect cis women from discrimination. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Reposted by Rob Mullins
Why is a double mastectomy different than a nose job like actually
It’s funny how "insufficient evidence" only seems to apply when the treatment makes people uncomfortable, but thousands of nose and boob jobs for minors gets a pass because nobody’s making a culture war podcast about elective rhinoplasty.
February 4, 2026 at 2:53 AM
Why is a double mastectomy different than a nose job like actually
Reposted by Rob Mullins
I hadn’t known this. Two men who were accused of sexual abuse on the Shitty Media Men document that I created back in 2017 reached out to Michael Wolff for help as they looked to sue me, and Wolf forwarded their concerns to Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein offered to help. www.jmail.world/thread/EFTA0...
February 3, 2026 at 3:45 PM
I hadn’t known this. Two men who were accused of sexual abuse on the Shitty Media Men document that I created back in 2017 reached out to Michael Wolff for help as they looked to sue me, and Wolf forwarded their concerns to Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein offered to help. www.jmail.world/thread/EFTA0...
It's not the primary argument but the Scottish Ministers raise the possibility of a declaration of incompatibility in the latest FWS judicial review www.gov.scot/binaries/con...
www.gov.scot
February 3, 2026 at 8:29 AM
It's not the primary argument but the Scottish Ministers raise the possibility of a declaration of incompatibility in the latest FWS judicial review www.gov.scot/binaries/con...
Reposted by Rob Mullins
Incredible story
Teenager makes 'superhuman' swim to save family swept out to sea
A 13-year-old boy has been hailed a hero after swimming four hours through rough seas to get help for his mother and two siblings, who were swept out to sea on an inflatable paddleboard in WA's South ...
www.abc.net.au
February 2, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Incredible story
Has anyone commented on how saturated the Epstein emails seem to be with evolutionary psychology and evolutionary biology crankery?
So apparently (according to Trivers) trans people are a 'new set of morphs' made possible by biotechnology, and are neither male nor female
February 1, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Has anyone commented on how saturated the Epstein emails seem to be with evolutionary psychology and evolutionary biology crankery?
Reposted by Rob Mullins
Leah is easily one of the best public law minds in the country, what a fantastic appointment by the @ukcla.bsky.social editorial team!
Announcement: UKCLA Blog Editorial Team ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/01/28/a...
Announcement: UKCLA Blog Editorial Team
Professor Mike Gordon is stepping down as one of the editors of the UK Constitutional Law Association Blog, having served in the role for the last six years. Se-shauna and I would like to thank Mik…
ukconstitutionallaw.org
January 29, 2026 at 9:14 AM
Leah is easily one of the best public law minds in the country, what a fantastic appointment by the @ukcla.bsky.social editorial team!
I think the designation "degenerating research programme" should be used only very sparingly for research programmes that are clearly degenerating, like originalism.
January 29, 2026 at 6:04 AM
I think the designation "degenerating research programme" should be used only very sparingly for research programmes that are clearly degenerating, like originalism.
Can anyone recommend a good summary of the WASPI thing?
January 27, 2026 at 11:34 AM
Can anyone recommend a good summary of the WASPI thing?
Based on what Stephenson has said publicly, it is hard to be too hopeful about this.
NEW: Guidance on how to implement the supreme court ruling on gender is being adapted to lessen its impact on businesses and to ensure it tries to balance single-sex spaces with the lives of transgender people, the Guardian has been told.
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
EHRC’s guidance on single-sex spaces being adapted under ‘constructive’ new chair
Exclusive: Mary-Ann Stephenson said to have more pragmatic approach in trying to limit impact on trans people and on businesses
www.theguardian.com
January 27, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Based on what Stephenson has said publicly, it is hard to be too hopeful about this.
Reposted by Rob Mullins
The deadline for the 2026 Formal Ethics Conference in Buffalo has just been extended to Feb. 16th. Consider submitting, and spread the word!
philevents.org/event/show/1...
philevents.org/event/show/1...
Formal Ethics 2026
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 16TH!
About
“Formal Ethics” sits at the intersection where logic, decision theory, game theory, social choice theory, and computational philosophy engag...
philevents.org
January 27, 2026 at 7:50 AM
The deadline for the 2026 Formal Ethics Conference in Buffalo has just been extended to Feb. 16th. Consider submitting, and spread the word!
philevents.org/event/show/1...
philevents.org/event/show/1...