Amanda Abbington is right: drag queens aren’t for children

The Transgender Thought Police are impossible to please. The sooner Amanda Abbington realises, the better. The star of Sherlock and Mr Selfridge is the latest woman to end up in the dock for voicing an opinion they deem to be unacceptable.

After the BBC announced that Abbington was the first celebrity contestant confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing 2023, the mob went wild. Her so-called crime? Back in March she tweeted:

‘I lost quite a few followers for saying that a semi-naked man in thigh high boots dancing in a highly sexualised way shouldn’t be performing in front of babies and it tells me everything I need to know about where society is heading. How do you not agree with me on this???’

Amanda Abbington

Anyone who understands the need to protect children must surely agree with Abbington. As a teacher, I am more bothered about those who take issue with her. Whoever thought that it was a good idea for adult entertainers to perform in front of children? Drag Queen Story Hour hit the headlines last year, but it rumbles on in libraries across the UK. Earlier this summer, Douglas Ross MP – leader of the Scottish Tories – protested Moray council’s decision to host ‘Miss Lossie Mouth’ in a ‘fun and interactive show suitable for children aged 0 to 6.’

Unlike Ross – who was characteristically unequivocal – Abbington has felt the need to issue an explanation. In a seven-minute video, she clarified that she ‘loved drag’, but:

‘My tweet back in March was regarding a 12-year-old who was doing it in front of adults. And it just upset me because I saw a kid, a little kid, a 12-year-old, doing something very over-sexualised. And I didn’t think it was right… And that was my tweet. I didn’t associate that with the trans community, nor would I associate that with the trans community, because I think they’re two separate things.’

Amanda Abbington

It wasn’t right and transsexuals like me are fed up to the back teeth of being associated with sexualised performances. I don’t like drag acts personally, but I wouldn’t try to stop other adults going to see them. My concern is children. But while I agree with Abbington and share in the widespread outrage at the intimidation she has faced since the BBC announcement, I’m not sure that the trans community and adult performers can currently be treated separately.

The LGBTQIA+ mob have been very successful in blurring the boundaries. Transsexuals might not want to be associated with adult entertainers, but they seem to want to be associated with us. No wonder, it gives them legitimacy. Cheering them on are some so-called progressives who seem to think that any lifestyle is just fine when it is wrapped up in a rainbow, sprinkled with sparkles and dragged under the ever-expanding transgender umbrella. Painting themselves as victims, they can then punch down with impunity on anyone who dares to question their assertions.

The calls for a boycott of Strictly are both ludicrous and tedious, but social media attacks are a choice weapon of the mob. Dripping with self-righteousness and a total lack of self-awareness, their attempts to cancel Abbington are unlikely to end with her explanation. They cannot be appeased, so it is pointless to even try.

Anyone who says what they think, for example, ‘you cannot have a penis and want to be referred to as a woman’ – another of Abbington’s old social media posts – will enrage that small group of noisy activists. But the forum that really matters is the court of public opinion. Ordinary people know the difference between men and women, and they can be compassionate to transsexuals without compromising the rights of women or the safeguarding of children. We might not hear so much from them but they are the people who watch Strictly and vote. Abbington should hold her nerve.

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Debbie Hayton is a teacher and journalist.

* This article was first published by The Spectator on 8 August 2023: Amanda Abbington is right: drag queens aren’t for children.