The Trans Students’ Officer at Warwick University has said that suicidal people should be allowed to kill themselves, and instructed alleged transphobes to “eat glass”.
In a video posted to YouTube, Ella Osho, the incoming Trans Students’ Officer at the University of Warwick Student’s Union, discussed their struggles with mental health and being transgender, but included language that suggested suicide should not be actively prevented.
“I really hate when people tell me to stay alive when I talk about unaliving [committing suicide],” Osho said. “When I say I don’t see the point of living, I’m not saying that to be quirky or different or whatever, I’m literally just thinking from a logical standpoint.”
They went on to argue that it was “selfish” for people to remind those with suicidal thoughts about the positive impact that they have on the world. “You want me to live because I’m helping you, so I’m living for other people,” the Trans Students’ Officer said.
“Do you think that people think that telling people to live is a kind thing to do? I really do see it as an act of violence,” they added. “I want you to change your language when someone tells you that they don’t want to live.”
Concluding the video, Osho argued that “when people say they want to kill themselves, we should be letting them.” The comments seem to contradict the inclusion at the start of the video of resources for those considering suicide.
The incoming Trans Students' Officer at the University of Warwick's SU said that "when people say they want to kill themselves we should be letting them." pic.twitter.com/UKOOVfVk43
— Valiant News (@ValiantNewsLive) June 8, 2022
Valiant News spoke to a number of individuals deeply involved in the Student’s Union, including a recently departed SU officer, who described their comments as “disgusting” and “disgraceful.” Multiple sources expressed concern about their ability to care for vulnerable trans students, given their publicly expressed opinions on suicide.
Last year, UCAS reported that they have seen a 450% increase in British students declaring that they have a mental health condition over the last decade. Earlier this week, an incident occurred on Warwick’s campus, with paramedics and an air ambulance attending the scene.
“They have to go,” one LGBT student told Valiant News. “I can’t see any way that somebody who is in a position of pastoral care for some of the most vulnerable members of our university community can remain in their position.”
In public social media posts, Osho seemingly encouraged violence against people that disagreed with their opinions.
One TikTok captioned “when a black woman is being transphobic and I hear a yt [white] gay say something about her hair/features,” featured Osho miming the lyrics “silly b*tches, imma kill these b*tches,” from Nicki Minaj and Pop Smoke’s 2019 song “Welcome to the Party.”
In a comment on Instagram, Osho responded to someone questioning how it was transphobic to not want to date a transgender person by telling them to “disrespectfully shut the f**k up and eat f**king glass”:
“If you were attracted to someone and then when you found out they were trans you didn’t want to date them or suddenly you weren’t attracted to them anymore even if they have you [sic] preferred genitals, that is textbook transphobia because although your nasty ass mouths won’t want to admit it, you do not see them as the gender they identify as but rather as what some colonized doctor assigned them at birth. Don’t even bring up ‘i wanna have biological kids’ to me, i don’t want to hear it. Eat glass.”
Osho also took part in the protests against Conservative Education Secretary Nadim Zahawi last month by Trans Action Warwick. Osho, along with others, stood outside the speaking event denouncing attendees as “Tory scum,” and blasted loud music during the talk.
One protester hit a Conservative student on the head, with Zahawi being forced to leave surrounded by security.
As Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi is hounded off Warwick University campus after being branded a 'notorious transphobe', is there a free speech crisis on campus? pic.twitter.com/IwKsh9Ut6U
— GB News (@GBNEWS) May 31, 2022
On Friday we disrupted Nadhim Zahawi speaking at the university of Warwick.
This response should be natural for students.
No to transphobia, resist a gendered existence. pic.twitter.com/RBq60epJoU— Trans Action Warwick (@TransWarwick) June 1, 2022
In an opinion piece for the Daily Mail, Zahawi slammed the protesters for engaging in a “mob mentality” for trying to shut his speech down. “Those who resort to personal insults, intimidation or dehumanise their opponents have lost their moral compass,” he wrote.
If you or a loved one are experiencing thoughts of suicide, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255. Readers in the UK can get in touch with the Samaritans by calling 116 123.
