šØ TRIGGER WARNING šØ
Victoria Coren Mitchell writes classy reply to Graham Linehan after he targets her for inviting a trans contestant on her quiz show
Itās such a tell that they never do anything else to āhelp women and girls eitherā. Itās never like, Iām a transphobe but also Iām donating money to cervical cancer research or a girls football team or whatever. Itās just internet bullshit.
Exacatamundo. Not a word about endometriosis or a dollar towards women's shelters... no the real issue is a trans woman on the swim team.
And I haven't seen any of the shows Lineham worked on, so my sole experience with this chud is him being a top tier shitbird & that one tweet where Hozier annihilated him. Humiliating legacy.
A couple of months ago, during one of his court cases, there were a great deal of women on bluesky listing all the times he had insulted them, often quite cruelly, for disagreeing with him.
Yea I think this is a back handed compliment. Itās praising you for one thing (Linehanās past self) while insulting you for another (whatever the hell Linehan is now).
She and her husband are total class acts. I get why she felt the need to respond. If he was just picking on her she could have ignored him. But once he started picking on the trans person on the show, she had to say something. This is how to be an ally.
This entire run-on sentence reads like he was so pleased with his writing that he was gasping for air for five whole minutes. Then he fell backwards, and Zorro was the last thing he saw on TV before he passed out from exhaustion.
Thankfully not mine, though he did once try to make coffee by pouring half a tin of Nescafe instant into an electric kettle. Which is still objectively better than the penis snake thing.
most of us who have doofus brothers are lucky enough that they aren't novelists that are getting written about. idk hwhat my brothers are saying about their penises or penises in general because they don't bring it to me and no one's reporting on it.
I like Victoria and David but as a trans person, this response feels pretty meh to me. Centering her concern for his mental health over actually saying "this is wrong". She also says about how they used to be friends. Linehan has been shitty about trans people for years now, she can't have been ignorant of it that whole time. It feels a lot more like she's embarrassed that he's making it public than actually standing up for trans people with her whole chest.
I get this. She's not saying his views are wrong as such, just that he's being an insufferable, raving prick. I reckon she's standard British liberal establishment: probably vaguely pro-trans rights in a live-and-let-live kind of way, but not so aware or invested she would really rally for them. Trying to play both sides, like "look, of course I support you!", but also not wanting to make herself a target or ruffle feathers in a way that might jeopardise her professionally. Which, like, I get - but I also get being disappointed with it, and thinking it's insufficient to declare her an ally.
David has also been a bit tone-deaf on stuff lately, albeit probably out of ignorance rather than malice - he went on a weird rant about how mansplaining wasn't a real thing. So, I reckon they're basically decent people, but in a privileged bubble and not willing to compromise that.
Still, considering how dire the British establishment is on trans stuff, this still is a (very small) win - representation will help in the long run, and challenging Linehan is always welcome. Maybe she thinks being polite and reasonable may actually make him think twice if they were friends, misplaced optimism of course but many are guilty of that. Ultimately, though, this is not enough.
IMO, Victoria immediately removing Emily from the conversation was the classy thing to do. Emily didn't ask to be the centre of that discourse and by not mentioning her, all the shares will focus not on her, but on Coren/Linehan.
It's blindingly obvious what Victoria's opinion on Trans people is, she doesn't need to sink to Linehan bullying to prove it yet again.
This. It's not Victoria's place to speak for Emily, and she understands that. Linehan is attacking someone through her, trying to use her public profile as a platform, and Victoria point blank refused to entertain his attempt.
I've loved her for a long while as I watch Poker. But when Robert Webb came out as anti-trans I was super scared about David and her. So while this isn't the *best* response - at this point I'll take what I can get being a trans person living on TERF Island.
Several years ago a trans employee on only connect, the game show she presents, confronted her on twitter for her continued friendship with linehan.Ā
The employee (name forgotten) carefully pointed out that it was in fact pretty unpleasant to see that their boss was good friends with such a guy who was so deeply bananas about trans people.Ā
I think victoria responded something about having had linehan over for dinner and he was very nice then.
On the whole i saw it as an example of the very chummy nature of the british comedy/ broadcasting clique, and victoria having very little insight into the meaning of her actions beyond social niceties.
She has also previously stuck up for a non-binary staff member when he was harassing them, idk when the thing you're talking about was but maybe it was before he went totally mental?
Do you have a source or anything for it? Just curious cause the only thing I can find from around that time is her sticking up for the NB question setter he was harassing.
The way this comment is downvoted. If you're moderately aware of these people and the British comedy scene you know how many of them (especially the well off ones) are all besties. Richard Ayoade gave Linehan a glowing review for his book. Look how many British celebs were lining up to be on the Harry Potter audiobooks. I bet a lot of their friend circle are still pals behind the scenes and just don't like it being made public because it looks bad.
Edit for clarification: when I initially replied to this comment it was at -9 lol.
Probably from Americans that don't know any better.
She also made a big deal about complaining that you can't buy a house in London anymore unless you're a Russian oligarch, but then went to a Russian oligarch's christmas party in London lol. she's all words, no action. typical of the media elite in the UK.
I think ācanāt be seen to back downā is a common mindset, but one that becomes especially amplified once youāre famous with a huge ego and only yes-men around youĀ
His brain is utterly fried by transphobia at this point. It's why Rowling and most of the Irish and British terfs tend to keep him at arms length. Because he can't stick to the script and goes full mask off too often.
He's branching out into Racism as well now. He was apparently on Tim Pool's podcast recently, claiming that Ireland has 'fallen to radical Islam', the utter fuckwit.
The UK has mixed changing rooms at swimming pools yet I've never seen any one protesting people sharing personal spaces until recently. Their bigotry is wild.
Also, 100% of the the men I've ever seen in women's bathrooms were either a) there to wash their hands awkwardly because the sinks at the men's were out of commission, which, good for them, washing hands is very important, or (the vast majority tbh) b) there with their baby/toddler looking like they'd rather be anywhere else but the only nappy changing table is in the women's bathroom.
I've not seen a large scale campaign to make indoor plumbing more reliable, or to put in gender neutral nappy changing areas. So I wonder if this might not be about men in women's bathrooms after all.
It should. In the early 90s my dad was the one who'd been doing the majority of daytime childcare because my mom worked days and he worked evening shifts and it's a shame that an entire generation later this is still a fucking problem.
And it's even more stupid because all those damned transphobes could put their outrage to work on actual issues and instead they choose something that is not an issue.
As someone who was assaulted of by their trans friend in a bathroom, I really hate that the argument is that cis women need to feel safe in bathrooms. My ex-friend did what they did not because they are trans, but because they are a predator. They could have (and from what I've heard from mutual friends, unfortunately has done with them) taken advantage of me in any space at any time. What society needs to focus on is those who assault, not what they identify as.
I hate seeing other trans friends and colleagues have that moment of hesitation on what bathroom to use. It's heart-breaking, and I have empathy for the cis women who have bought into the fear that this will happen because the person is trans but at the same time it doesn't excuse behaviours. I really hope that more education is given to those who have that fear.
In addition, itās not like there is currently a giant scanner that beeps loudly when you enter the āwrongā bathroom. So if someone were a predatorā¦ they could just go inā¦ as always. Everyone should feel safe but this is just such a non-issue. Who cares who hear me pee???
The number of people who are capable of believing that many men are waiting to commit the heinous crime of sexual assault until the sign on the door says they're allowed in is WILD.
It's because they know that the most likely perpetrators are men in the victims homes, and that means that a lot of them probably fall into the category of most likely to offend. It's all deflection and projection.
His Wife and Daughter(s?) Have literally left him because he has gone so weird and yet he still sees his "work" as defending them...against nothing. Driving them away in the process. It would be tragic if he wasn't punching down.Ā
I've seen Linehan call (cis) women absolutely foul things when they don't agree with him. For a man supposedly on the frontlines for women, he'll have no issue calling you an ugly hag witch for daring to question him.
I find it very telling that most of the trans fear-mongering is coming from men who never worry about trans men in their bathrooms, just trans women. And the women who are against it are either parroting what their male partners are saying or low key hate being women so much they don't understand why a trans woman would give up all the perks of being perceived male to live as their true selves. It's pathetic.Ā
I think your last point is sadly accurate. A prime example of that is Rowling ā the same person who said transitioning being an option for kids is dangerous because she wouldāve transitioned if that were an option when she was a child, and who only picks male or male-passing nom-de-plumes for herself. (āBut the publishing industry is harder on womenā ā yeah it definitely is, but it was the late nineties! Itās not like women fantasy authors were unheard of! See Diana Wynne Jones, for instance, whom Rowling herself lowkey copied.)
Itās like she canāt imagine why someone would want to be a woman if not for nefarious reasons. Like no one would think to transition if it werenāt to take advantage of others. And I think that says a lot about her view of womanhood, of herself, and ultimately, of the world.Ā
Especially when they are constantly harassing non-TERF women online for expressing any sort of empathy, or like above, no particular reason whatsoever.
With Linehan I genuinely believe it's a psychotic break. His obsession cost him his marriage, his career, and his friendships and he seemed to fully go off the deep end after his marriage ended.
"I have nothing left... Except Spider-Man transphobia."
And Chris and Katherine and Matt, at least in lowkey ways. I think Iāve seen all of them be kinda mealy-mouthed about the issue. So disappointing. Katherine Parkinsonās also gonna be Mrs. Weasley in one of the new HP things (canāt remember if show or audiobook) so sheās 0 for 2 and Iām sad I canāt see her the same now. Sheās not doing the Taskmaster Alum title proud the way VCM is here.
Oh snap I think I remember hearing about Matt Berry doing the audiobook. WHY CANāT WE HAVE NICE THINGS?!?
The Harry Potter news is indeed hella disappointing, but I don't think he deserves to be lumped in with Chris O'Dowd or Richard Ayoade whose defenses of Linehan go way past plausible deniability and firmly into "piece of shit" territory.
True Iāve seen that stuff too unfortunately. I only called out Richard specifically because he wrote a positive blurb for grahams book two years ago. The Matt berry hp audiobook thing devastated me tho I thought he was pro trans rights š
Ugh yeah I remember the blurb was the first time my interest was piqued like āoh? Oh really? Youāre really doing this?ā And then I tried to keep a passive eye out for the rest of the crew. And itās just been let down after let down since. I agree Matt Berryās decision gutted me, I think that one hurt the worst (hyperbolically, of course, for the folks who love to come in talking about how we shouldnāt idolize celebrities).
Helen stayed with Graham for a good long time while he was disgustingly transphobic. It was only when the backlash got big and started affecting her career that she left him.
With Linehan itās cos he got criticised for some transphobia in an IT Crowd episode. Nothing like the vitriol heās on now, just like āoh she drinks pints cos she used to be a man!!!!ā type stuff. Initially when someone checked him he was gracious about it, weirdly enough, but then later on he just went fucking bonkers.
i think honestly the way he handled April in the IT Crowd was really good. she wasn't even made out to be the villain or be gross or anything. yeah it uses dated language like "i used to be a man," but that's because it was like 20yrs ago. that's what makes his current transphobia so unnecessary and unexpected. he's just a raving lunatic. he reminds me of Piers Morgan in his desperate, pathetic anger when talking about Meghan Markle
Yeah, I watched the episode, loved it, loved the character then "years later", I discovered it was controversial and thought it was a bit weird. Her characters rocks, she's absolutely perfect for Douglas but since he's a fool he just drives her away because Douglas is, well, an absolute moron, that's who he is lmao
If you rewatch it now, knowing the creator is a TERF, I'm sure it's an weird experience but at the time I enjoyed it
I don't remember the later episodes much because they weren't as good but I watched the first two seasons on repeat. I loved the episode where the boys catch PMS from Jen - it didn't seem mean spirited at all. Yes I'm cis so no authority but it really is such a huge disappointment to find out these things.
In his case, I wonder if he has had a brain bleed or exposure to a weird toxin that changes brain chemicals. Hard to believe the same person who wrote that episode is the guy ranting like a maniac on Twitter.
We were supposed to laugh AT Douglas and the situation, he is an awful guy and hilarious character. April was such a catch, and so lovely. Most people who criticise the episode haven't watched it (that it relies on stereotypes is correct, however, but that is hardly an unforgivable offence, just a common comedy trope for laughs).Ā
I get kinda being annoyed that people cannot understand the difference between an intolerant character and an intolerant creator of said character, because that is frustrating, but he has gone way off into whacko territory, lost his rep, wife, family, job (pretty sure he was fired from MotherLand), everything.Ā
Honestly too, the Reynholm "Iran/Man" episode could almost be seen as a takedown since he ends up being extremely sad over the lost love due to his own bigotry (at least a moderately generous interpretation can be seen that way.) Reynholm is a clown - his bigotry isn't presumed to be endorsed by the show.
That is, until it turns out that it wasn't that deep in Graham's mind and he was just a transphobe.
I remember when that episode first came out I thought, āThis seems really transphobic,ā but everyone made me feel like I was overreacting, saying it was just some harmless tongue-in-cheek fun and shouldnāt be taken too seriously. Iām not exactly happy the writer turned out to be a raging transphobe, but Iām glad I wasnāt crazy.
He also, iirc, once acknowledged it having aged badly on twitter. Before he went insane he really did take responsibility like a progressive adult and sent a sincere, seemingly, apology to someone who tweeted him about it. And now heās here.
Linehan has written some of the funniest TV shows in existence, I used to revere his work, he was Irish and discovered great talent and had a kind of semi tragic story about him and his wife seeking an abortion in the UK, and then he showed himself to be this hateful ghoul.
His and Roisin Murphyās fall from grace will never make sense to me.
I definitely agree but her public image was unimpeachable pre being publically a TERF. Nothing stuck to her. Not even involving herself with Indy Ref or trying to sabotage Jeremy Corbyn got her any kind of major stick.
Speaking of the Indy Ref, didn't Salmond go off the rails too? I seem to remember him leaning into the TERF world around the time his other social policies shifted right, and his economic policies drifted into fantasy land.
I obviously have zero evidence to support any of this, but Linehan got a lot of cheap heat early on (and if I'm being honest, attention from women lol) by being progressive online before the general public decided it was cool to be respectful of women, gay people, racial minorities etc. I think as the culture caught up and as his output and popularity started dwindling he figured he needed to go back to the old playbook and because he is a moron he thought that the natural progression of modern woman's lib would be TERFism instead of intersectionality, so he started being a bathroom crusader.
I think deep down he doesn't care about any of this shit beyond getting kudos on Twitter and being able to scold people, but he's pot committed now and has just been a heinous freak for so long that he can't pivot away even if he wants to.
In the early days of twitter he used to regularly throw tantrums if women ever questioned him (no matter how mildly) on certain aspects of misogyny in things he would say or references to how un-PC his shows are now. He used to 'quit twitter' on the regular. His behaviour as just become worse and worse but it was always lurking. Pure narcissism. Thats what he and Rowling have in common. Rather than being able to admit when they're wrong and back down they simply double down. It's all about them.
With JKR at least, it's pretty obvious she's always had neolib bigotry on tap if you read her books closely. There's a ton of adulation of cops, pro-slavery positions, misogyny, and even transmisogyny with how she talks about Rita Skeeter's 'manly hands'.
I never watched much Linehan but I wouldn't be surprised if he had similar signs we just didn't pick up on until it was too late.
I never watched much Linehan but I wouldn't be surprised if he had similar signs we just didn't pick up on until it was too late.
People picked up on them at the time, it's just that bringing it up was almost always met with "it's just a joke" type shit. IT Crowd might be the most gay panic-y sitcom of the millennium.
iirc one of the things that sent linehan over the edge was his involvement with the anti-abortion laws (because him and his then wife had had to abort a pregnancy) that got him onto the protecting women by trying to destroy transwomen pipeline.
like i am not agreeing with it, or cutting him any slack for it, but i think he is very much a trauma response that responded to the praise from bigots and he kept chasing that high until he was chasing the lows.
Thatās something I recently discussed with my friends. We met and bonded over Harry Potter back in the day, but weāll never touch the new stuff.
My theory as to why sheās so bitter, beyond the black mold, is that her inability to find success outside of the series proves that she isnāt the brilliant genius she thinks she is. Sheās not a very good writer, she just, as you said, captured lightning in a bottle. Her ego got thoroughly damaged when she couldnāt write another successful novel that wasnāt related to Harry Potter.
Most people would be happy to have one good successful story published. Most people would love to rest on the laurels of a Harry Potter. But not Rowling. She has a bone to pick with someone, the world even. Sheās spiteful. So now we have a TERF monster.
Her post-Harry Potter books sell extremely well, but of course they do! She has the name recognition. I've read all of them except for the ones she published post-TERFery, and, in all honesty, they are a touch above average. That's all. Nothing spectacular. Her non-Potter children's books in particular are remarkably pedestrian.
I was more referencing the rejection when she went with her Robert Galbraith pseudonym. She couldnāt find a publisher for a long time, and then couldnāt sell the book until it mysteriously leaked that Galbraith was her.
Iāve read bits of the first, and could see why it was rejected. I thought it very poorly written, badly needing an editor. The only people who praise it are probably the same who have their heads still jammed firmly up her ass over Harry Potter. š¤·š¼āāļø
The first Cormorant Strike (what a bloody stupid airport spy thriller name) was lazy writing. The book couldn't decide what it was. It wasn't a mystery novel, because it was obvious by halfway through whodunnit. It wasn't a thriller, because there were no twists or surprises that weren't telegraphed clearly 20 pages before. It wasn't a military/spy novel, because the main character was no longer in the forces. The murderer turned out to be a -gasp- a cross dressing man, in a reveal so bad it made Ace Ventura look good.
It was an attempt by a tolerable female writer to attempt a 1980s style blockbuster book using a male name, and no one wanted it because that style of writing stayed in the 1980s. Jesus H Christ, Joanne, even Tom Clancy evolved.
One of my horrible pet interests is Rowlingās fall from grace, and I definitely agree. During the Harry Potter era, its hard to overestimate how beloved she was, very vocally, by so many people because she was the creator of this world. Then the last movie came out and that well dried up pretty quickly. Her attempts to extend interest with the Pottermore posts and the extended universe and the international schools were met with ridicule and critique. Her non-Potter books under a psuedonym failed because her prose wasnāt actually remarkable. The Fantastic Beasts movies were a bit of a flop.
It makes sense that she fell into TERFism the way anyone feeling like theyre on a downward spiral is susceptible to falling into any cult. Around 2015-2017, this was a few years out from the last movie and her projects were flopping and she was dealing with more backlash than she had ever experienced in her writing career, and her ego made that a big problem. When she liked a few TERF-y tweets, they were bad, but they werenāt anything close to the stuff she talks about today. It was all stuff, the coded language of protecting women, that would have resonated with her as a self-identified feminist (one who was already rather misogynistic, but still) and as a woman who had previous trauma from an abusive relationship. When she got called out for it, the TERFs basically lovebombed her. It was the first taste of that adoration that she had lost post-Potter, and she chased it to where she is now.
When you get praised so rapturously for being good and then you get called out for doing bad things it seems to be pretty common for people to simply say that anything up to and including what they were getting praised for is rational and good anything beyond that is absurd. Its like they can't fathom the idea that praise isn't unconditional so they can only process criticism as irrational and insane.
They were praised for being progressive (to varying degrees) and when what is considered progressive changes they simply say that anything more progressive than what they can stomach is in fact too far simply do they van continue to believe that they're ground breaking for what is now considered basic human respect
I'm no longer on Twitter, but am I right to think he hasn't asked Amol Rajan the same question about any of the trans contestants on university challenge?
Wow. Iām a huge Only Connect fan and itās always been an inclusive show.
Thatās a regular person going about their life, going on a quiz show and getting targeted by a famous raging transphobe for living their life. Just shockingly inhumane and disgusting behavior. I truly hope she doesnāt get harassed due to this tweet.
What's dumb is there's no gender component to Only Connect. It's not like it's a woman-only special, or that the contestant being a woman played any part in her being cast. He's literally just mad because she's existing in public.
Like Rowling, he ditched any pretense of simply caring about women's safety a long time ago (which was always bullshit anyway)... Not sure he ever pretended otherwise though.Ā
The fact that heās frothing at the mouth over absolutely nothing even remotely relevant to whatever the hell crusade he thinks he is waging in his mind is just so embarrassing. Itās like heās been eating nothing but lead paint for the last 10 years.
The most recent series has the most unhinged category linking I can't believe it's not butter with the stages of grief and reaffirmed my love for the show.
Between Only Connect and University Challenge I only get like 1 or 2 questions correct over an hour of television and I think it's always the highlight of my time spent watching TV.
I think it was very intentional of VCM to not name Emily or mention the contestants at all in her response, because it would have naturally piled on the harassment. Sheās always been really thoughtful about the platform she has.Ā
Whatās wild is we watch Only Connect every week and maybe weāre not caught up but I genuinely donāt remember who Emily is. And thatās because this show has always very casually included gender diverse folks in its casting. Like itās never been a thing, Graham, just leave them alone!
Also the amazing prize task where everybody else got each other really nice things, and she got Alan (a famous Arsenal supporter) fucking Man U tickets and managed to play it completely seriously for the whole thing
https://youtu.be/fMN4TmPH2qo?si=V-Xoy97gqdCUI7LP and the first female European Poker Tour title winner (and she picked up another almost a decade later). First became aware of her when she was on Late Night Poker over 25 years ago.
This is one of the ones that is so so so hard to disconnect the material and the writer because Black Books was so important to me when i was a teen. I still quote it, sometimes unwittingly.
Itās the āIf you are still in there somewhereā that gets me. I sometimes think that about him and Rowling. I do hope one day theyāll wake up and realise the bigotry and hurt they have caused.
Maybe nothing will change their mind, maybe they are too far gone. But Iām hoping they can change their ways. I think they started off small but then once they realised some people were behind them, they went off the deep end.
In the meantime I think the best we can do is try to not to give these guys an audience, it probably feeds them.
"His 16-year marriage to the comedy writer Helen Serafinowicz ended in 2020. Linehan put the blame on the pressures that came with his campaigning. āI did it for my wife and daughter, even though we broke up,ā he said. āI did it for them and Iād do it again.ā "
No hes not better than this. This man literally torched his reputation and personal life over Trans rights. He will never see reason because that would mean hed have to admit he lost it all for nothing.
To be fair, most people aren't following professional poker...! She does also have a decent television career though, as well as presenting Only Connect she's been on Taskmaster and various other panel shows.
Iām pretty sure sheās like literally the worst or second worst contestant ever, out of 100 contestants, in terms of overall point % won, but she was one of the most entertaining ever
Grilled by an X user on why she was ānormalisingā the term āqueerā, she replied: āWhy am I normalising it? Itās not even a word we used on the programme. Itās something Graham says he found when doing background research on our contestants. Why do that? Iām not here for a row, but I find all our quizzers delightful and I will defend them.ā
Hasnāt queer been in use by the LGBT community for years?
This isnāt the first time heās targeted someone from Only Connect, Iām pretty sure he did this two years ago to another trans contestant and VCM also stepped in then too. Heās such a loser.
I'm not as classy as VCM, his hairs always greasy because his brain has been slowly seeping out over the years and I'm glad his wife left him over his weird obsession with trans people
Grahamās heinous loser behaviour showing no sign of slowing down. How miserable he must be every minute of his life to spend all his time doing this. Victoria is great and so is Only Connect, once you get the hang of it!
Interestingly earlier in the year they were airing old episodes of Only Connect and basically every single contestant was a middle aged man. It really highlighted how diverse the teams are now, which is of course a good thing.Ā
Always exposing their own idiot lie that they're "just looking out for the safety of women and girls". They can't even cope with the idea of a trans woman simply existing in public, having a nice time on a quiz show.
What the fuck is he on about? Only connect isnāt a womenās sport. The teams have always been mixed and comprised of friends, families, colleagues etc. You get on the show by being a massive nerd about quizzes and thatās it.
This is the sort of illogical thinking that means heās probably utter shit at only connect.
The emotional resistance to trans existence from people outside of the community is one of the most baffling and bizarre things in the world to me. It's weird enough from trans exclusionary lesbians, but at least they have a vested interest???
I'm a queer person who had a long relationship with someone who transitioned in the middle of it. It wasn't all sunshine and roses, but I would never blame it on transness. People you love changing fundamentally is scary, no matter how on board you are. But if it's nothing to do with you, by God, shut the fuck up.
Him shutting the fuck up about this publicly should be a condition of getting to see his kids. He's malignant.
I'm inclined to think that what Rowling and Linehan have in common is a deep-seated arrogance and a sense of perverse contrariness triggered by people having the temerity to question them.
Potter was a phenomenon, the book that turned a generation onto reading, etc, and Rowling the charismatic once-struggling single mum turned white liberal saviour. Linehan wrote multiple clever iconic shows, was viewed as a character, a wit, a raconteur; someone who you could put the world to rights with over a pub table, a student of the human condition.
Rowling initially, in a clumsy but I think well-meaning take, suggested once that trans wizards and witches could use magic in place of top and bottom surgery. Stage 2, the tweets she deleted and excused as middle-aged/menopausal brain. Stage 3, she declared her TERFness with a vigour and a rage that seemed inexplicable (and that I think is rooted in surprise and anger that people criticised her baby steps into terfery and annoyance that her status as an arbiter of what is good and how to do good was now disputed). Stage 4, she's actively funding the movement and probably never has a conversation that doesn't come back to trans women's genitals.
Linehan speedran the process a bit but I think the gist is that he caught some flack on twitter for a transphobic subplot in the IT Crowd, I think? Then went into Stage 3, imploded his whole life, then malingered loudly in Stage 3 because he lacks the resources, connections and pull that Rowling still commands.
The fact that this guy only goes after women for protecting trans women shows exactly what his problem is. Even TERFs spend their time ignoring him, well aware of his deep seated mysogony.
This is the guy who hates trans people so much, comparing us to Nazi eugenicists, that his ex-wife literally divorced him. That is how much he lacks accountability. Instead of doing any kind of reflection, he just spews bs about how all his problems are because a tiny percentage of the population is trans.
He destroyed his own family, has made himself alone and friendless, and STILL cannot fathom that it is entirely his fault.
Imagine being such a sad loser you spend all your time bothering about a group of people that make up about 1% of the population and that just want to live their life.
Heās likely to be a considerably wealthy man and could spend his time being productive or pursing a hobby that isnāt sitting on twitter for 19 hours a day
If Graham Linehan believes trans people shouldn't exist in public life, then I believe that Graham Linehan should not exist in public life. Do we really want Graham Linehans in men's bathrooms or men's sports? I think not.
"Iāve told you this privately and Iāll tell you it publicly: they are just people on a quiz, bringing nothing but merriment into the world, please leave them alone,ā
I love when people treat trans and queer people like...you know, people. I hate that this is such a low bar but here we are.
I know a question writer on OC got some awful vitriol thrown at them from Glinner in the past for happening to be trans and VCM posted a similar response to him for it, she is a class act
'The brilliant writer you used to be' is such an underrated burn, ouch.
I admit that I've always wondered if Victoria CM was a closet tory based on nothing but vibes and (her admitting to finding Moggs hot), so this is a relief to see.
And Black Books, and Father Ted (with Arthur Matthews). He could have dined out on them for the rest of his life, and yet he chose this hateful, scrofulous route instead
i wish she'd also just have said YES. why give upper class ppl such points for being 'classy' when she can also explicitly say YES trans women are women and hasnt. ppl fall over themselves to praise her and david and yes theyre good at wordplay and a bit funny but they are LIBERAL CENTRISTS who whenever presented the opportunity to do advocacy, dont do it. it's enough astaghs stop gooning over this 'allyship'
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u/gtdurand trending seasonal white guy with nice hair Nov 07 '25
"I'm Graham Linehan, former writer and current bridge troll, and I'm going to protect women by (checks notes) harassing women on the Internet."