FFS Friday: Developmental Biologist Dr. Emma Hilton

August 16, 2024

FFS (Female Free Speech) Friday honors women and girls who are speaking out about the harms that “gender identity” poses to women and girls as a sex class. FFS Friday posts are free and shareable. If you would like access to content that delves deeper into the movement to protect the sex-based rights of women and girls and to stop the abolition of sex, please consider a paid subscription.

Today’s FFS Friday honors Dr. Emma Hilton, an expert in genetics and developmental biology (who also knows what a woman is).

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According to the About page of the UK group Sex Matters (where she is a trustee): 

Dr Emma Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester, studying aspects of human genetic disease. For her PhD from the University of Warwick she researched early events in the embryogenesis of vertebrate embryos, and she has extensive research experience in the field of developmental genetics. Her career has focused on the genetic and molecular mechanisms underpinning inherited genetic disorders in humans, including those that differently affect males and females, and that affect nerve or muscle development during embryogenesis. She has authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications in clinical genetics and development journals, received over 1,100 citations and contributed to key medical textbooks.

Emma knows her stuff and you can find her on X at @FondOfBeetles. 

Because of her expertise in the areas of developmental biology and genetics, she has been in great demand of late, as feminists all over the world grapple with the horror of watching male athletes beat up women in the boxing ring at the Olympics. 

She recently posted an extremely helpful thread on X about sex testing and sport. Please use it to clear up any misconceptions you might be hearing about how sex testing is allegedly either intrusive or expensive (it is neither). 

She appeared in a fantastic interview with journalist Andrew Gold, explaining step by step why it appears likely (though we don’t know for sure) that the male athletes competing in women’s boxing in the Olympics have a disorder of sexual development.

She joined Graham Linehan, Helen Staniland, and Arty Morty to break it all down for us during an episode of “The Mess We’re In.” 

She appeared in a recent X space called “Males are boxing women: How can the IOC allow this?” hosted by the International Consortium of Female Sport (@ICFSport).

Her work is not only important for the obvious reason that it’s crucial to understanding the importance of single-sex sports, but also because she gives us tools we can use to debunk the claims of our friends and relatives who may think they know what’s up but are really in the dark. 

Lest you think her work doesn’t make a difference globally, in December 2022, a US federal judge quoted her in an extremely important court case about the importance of single-sex sports and spaces, and she’s also cited in the complaint in the matter of Gaines, et al. v. NCAA, et al. (where sixteen female athletes including Riley Gaines are suing the NCAA for allowing Lia (Will) Thomas to compete in the 2022 championships).

Emma, thank you for all you do for women and girls. Today’s FFS Friday is for you.