Join members of the UQ Ally Network for an online discussion + panel where they will be exploring biology, philosophy, politics and culture to break down and challenge concepts of the binary.

This one-hour online session from 1pm - 2pm on Monday 22 September will involve dynamic 10-minute presentations from each speaker, with a Q&A panel to finish, providing you an opportunity to ask questions and delve deeper into the topics discussed.

Meet your Speakers

Jason Cullen; he/they; Advisor, Accessibility and Assistive Technology (Library)
- Jason completed and graduated his PhD in 2014 and has been with the library ever since. Since joining the Ally network in 2019 and commencing his accessibility role in 2022, he has found satisfying ways to develop his love for the experiential consequences of his philosophical interest in prioritising diversity.
Dr Karin Sellberg: she/they; Lecturer in Humanities, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry
- Karin teaches into the Advanced Humanities program at UQ. They are primarily a literary studies scholar with research interests in feminist philosophy, history of sexuality, trans* and queer theory, and their publications include numerous articles and two books; Gender: Time (2018) and Corporeality and Culture (2014) and a forthcoming book on transgender identity narratives.
Thea Elson-Green: They/She; Higher Degree Research, Evolutionary Biology
- Current HDR student in evolutionary biology focused on the evolution of quantitative traits with a keen interest on bridging the gap between molecular and macro evolution
Ari Deshpande Irani: They/Them; Social Work Placement Student
- Ari is a Counsellor-turned-Social Work student at UQ of Indian-Iranian Heritage. They are also a Published Poet with UQ's Semper Floreat.

Time	Topic	Speaker
1:00 – 1:05pm	Introductions and Acknowledgement of Country	Jason Cullen
1:05 – 1:15pm	Let's talk about (biological) Sex Baby: a cursory dive into the basis of biological sex and expression of quantitative traits. Debunking high school myths on genetics and observing the weirdness nature has created	Thea Elson-Green
1:15 – 1:25pm	This paper is an attempt by an intersex philosopher to make his interest in the metaphysics of sex accessible to a wider audience. It is an attempt to sketch the philosophical significance of assertions that the binary of man and woman is artificial. I suggest that these assertions entail a renewal of how we understand the relationship between bodies and the relationships that characterise them.	Jason Cullen
1:25 – 1:35pm	Debates of Trans/Cis-Womanhood The term ‘woman’ has increasingly become a contested space in Anglo-American cultural and political discourse, as a set of ‘culture wars’ have ignited around identity discourses in general. In 2025, a number of controversial policy documents were introduced, the most notorious of which were undoubtedly the US President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on January 20, 2025 ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’ and the UK Supreme Court Decision on 16 April 2025 in the case For Women Scotland Ltd (Appellant) v The Scottish Ministers (Respondent). I will discuss why specifically the term ‘woman’ has become such a battleground. I will consider the historical contingency of conversations surrounding transfemininity and the ‘threat’ it poses. In doing so, I will take a trans* theory perspective on these two policy documents, and the conversations that have followed in their wake.	Dr Karin Sellberg
1:35 – 1:45pm	Ari will be discussing their lived experience as a Non-Binary Person of colour; and resistant imaginings on Dominant frameworks of understanding the world, and the epistemic violence that results thereof. Ari is more interested in posing a good question, than sharing an answer, in this regard.	Ari Deshpande Irani
1:45 – 2pm	Q&A

This event is a part of SEXtember at UQ - advancing conversations about sex, sexuality, sexual health, reproductive health and healthy relationships. To find out other events happening during SEXtember, visit: https://life.uq.edu.au/sextember

'Breaking Binaries' Online Panel Discussion hosted by the UQ Ally Network

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