Category: Free Speech

Free speech and cancel culture

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Children Deutsch Free Speech JK Rowling

Als Transfrau und Elternteil sage ich: Es ist Missbrauch, Kinder zum Geschlechtswechsel zu drängen

Die Bestseller-Autorin J. K. ist wegen ihrer Äußerungen über Transmenschen in die Kritik geraten. Hier erklärt die britische Transgender-Aktivistin Debbie Hayton, warum sie sich mit der “Harry Potter”-Autorin solidarisiert.

Nachdem Joanne K. Rowling im vergangenen Monat eine Flut von Beschimpfungen erhalten hatte, weil sie das Wort “Frau” zur Beschreibung ihres Geschlechts zurückforderte, hätte man J. K. Rowling vielleicht verzeihen können, wenn sie den Staffelstab der Kampagne an andere weitergereicht hätte. Die Transgender-Debatte, an der sie teilnahm, ist vielleicht der toxischste und spaltendste Streit, der in den sozialen Medien tobt.

Continue reading “Als Transfrau und Elternteil sage ich: Es ist Missbrauch, Kinder zum Geschlechtswechsel zu drängen”
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Children Free Speech JK Rowling русский

Роулинг права (Rowling is right)

Как трансженщина, родитель и учитель, я утверждаю, что Дж.К. Роулинг совершенно права: подталкивать детей к смене пола — это насилие над ними.

Автора бестселлеров заклеймили позором за предупреждение относительно того, что трансактивисты подталкивают детей, испытывающих психологические трудности, к приёму гормонов и хирургическим операциям. Однако она поступает храбро и верно, высказываясь на этот счёт. После обрушившегося на неё в прошлом месяце шквала оскорблений за то, что она просила вернуть слово «женщина» для описания своего пола, Дж.К. Роулинг, вероятно, была прощена за то, что передала правозащитную эстафету другим.

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Children Free Speech JK Rowling

As a trans woman, parent and teacher, I say JK Rowling is absolutely right; it’s child abuse to push kids towards changing sex

The best-selling author has been vilified for warning about how children struggling with their mental health are being shunted towards hormones and surgery by trans activists. But she is brave and right to speak out.

After last month receiving a barrage of abuse for reclaiming the word ‘woman’ to describe her sex, JK Rowling might have been forgiven for handing the campaigning baton onto others. The transgender debate that she entered is perhaps the most toxic and divisive dispute raging across social media.

Continue reading “As a trans woman, parent and teacher, I say JK Rowling is absolutely right; it’s child abuse to push kids towards changing sex”
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Free Speech

The silencing of Graham Linehan

You may not have heard of Graham Linehan but you will be familiar with his work. Linehan is the creator of Father Ted and the IT Crowd, among other comedy shows. And in the wake of the attacks against JK Rowling, he is the latest high-profile person to have been targeted by the mob for speaking out on the issue of transgenderism.

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Free Speech JK Rowling Sex and Gender

How dare the Body Shop tell JK Rowling what to think

For nearly a week now, the mob has had JK Rowling in its sights. Her crimes against trans ideology seemed relatively minor but like some authoritarian quasi-religious cult, trans rights activism demands total compliance to its dogma.

Following a series of courageous tweets last Saturday in which the children’s author defended biology and reclaimed the word ‘woman’ to describe those now seemingly called ‘people who menstruate‘, her critics went berserk.

To readers about to switch off from yet another dose of transgender nonsense comes a warning. Coffee House readers may pride themselves in knowing that biological sex is real and, no, we can’t change it. But too many people have stayed silent for too long.

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Free Speech Sex and Gender

Hungary offers a lesson in crying wolf on ‘transphobia’

Transphobia is a word thrown around far too easily. But Hungary’s move to end legal recognition of trans people really is something to worry about. While Britain has been embroiled in a heated debate over proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act, which allows people to change their legal gender on the production of medical reports and a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, in Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz government has swept such rights away.

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Free Speech JK Rowling Sex and Gender

JK Rowling fell foul of transgender thought police

Covid-19 has put many things on hold, but not the transgender thought police. JK Rowling had been in their sights since Christmas when she tweeted her support for Maya Forstater, who had lost her job at a think tank after questioning whether trans women were women (spoiler: we are not — we are the other sex).

When the children’s author accidentally tweeted the contents of her clipboard last Friday the thought police reached new levels of apoplexy. Not for anything Rowling had said: the tweet was swiftly deleted and an explanation given. She was condemned for what she had been reading.

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Free Speech Sex and Gender

Why is the United Nations trying to police our language on gender?

George Orwell popularised the word ‘thoughtcrime’, but he also wrote extensively about the destruction of language. This week, the United Nations has been playing that worrying game, of meddling with what people say.

‘What you say matters’, the UN wrote in a tweet. ‘Help create a more equal world by using gender-neutral language if you’re unsure about someone’s gender or are referring to a group,’ its Twitter account urged, telling people to substitute words like ‘mankind’ for ‘humankind’, ‘maiden name’ for ‘family name’ and ‘businessman’ for ‘representative’.

There is nothing bad, of course, about trying not to offend people. But there is something deeply troubling about adapting language in a way that dilutes meaning. And is it really the UN’s place to try and police what people say?

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Free Speech GRA Reform Labour Party

Defend me or expel me

This is the transcript of a speech I gave at the Defend me or expel me rally organised by the Labour Women’s Declaration in London on 9 March 2020.

 The event had been called to support Woman’s Place UK and the LGB Alliance. Both organisations had been denounced as transphobic and trans-exclusionist by the self-styled Labour Campaign for Trans Rights (LCTR). Shockingly the LCTR had been supported by Labour Members of Parliament, including contenders for the leadership of the party.

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Free Speech Labour Party

Britain is not a transphobic country

The last day of March marks the International Transgender Day of Visibility, which must be in contention for most redundant event in the calendar. Some readers might be of the opinion that a few days of transgender invisibility might be more timely.

As a transgender person, I am tempted to agree. When I transitioned eight years ago the goal was to assimilate back into society, and with the minimum of fuss. Occasional stories did reach the press but, while there was passing interest, they were never high up the news agenda.

While the increased visibility cannot be denied, some people are now claiming that transphobia is taking over the nation. In an astonishing opinion piece for the New York Times earlier this week, Juliet Jacques announced that Transphobia is Everywhere in Britain.

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