What I intended as a simple, honest comment seems to have whipped up such a firestorm that I don't know where to begin to respond.
First up, perhaps is that I stumbled across this thread, and didn't realise that it was an old thread, because this story is back in the news again.
Second, I am not "long gone": I had to go back to work.
Third, I have never suggested that attempted murder is excusable, but it is explicable. I have been incredibly lucky: I have never personally experienced transphobic attacks or abuse to any significant extent -- unlike a friend of mine who was beaten up and left unconscious in the street outside her home, or the transwoman whose murder was recently videoed and posted on YouTube. But I am acutely aware of the constant barrage of abuse by people such as Greer, Bindel, and Murray who use their privileged positions to attack transpeople in general, and who then use their newspaper columns, chat show invites, and radio programmes to bleat on about how their freedom of speech is infringed if anyone dares to suggest that a bit of fact-checking might be in order.
Transsexuality is not a mental illness, but it does seem to make us prone to mental illnesses about 80% of my trans friends have suffered cllinical depression, and about half of those have seriously considered suicide or attempted it. Others suffer a range of other conditions such as anxiety conditions an PTSD. The common thread in all of these is that they are brought on or exacerbated by the threat of abuse, physical violence, or social alienation of the kind encouraged by so much of the main stream media, and motivated purely by personal gain for those who write the articles.
There are tens of thousands of transsexuals in this country (no-one is certain of the exact number) of whom the vast majority are living normal, unexceptional lives. They include doctors, teachers, airline pilots, nurses, computer programmers, sales people. I happen to be a coach driver with an enhanced DBS to operate school busses, and military security clearance so that I can drive on military establishments. But out of all those thousands, there are bound to be a few who are especially vulnerable to the incessant flood of hatred particularly when it gets personal (or seems to be getting personal). When something snaps, and they kill themselves, no doubt there are some who see that as a good thing -- "the only good tranny is a dead tranny", or "one less pervert". But when something snaps and they retaliate against someone else, that story gets jumped on by the press and used (and reused) to pour more fuel on the flames of transphobic hate.
I had hoped that on Mumsnet there might be room for a discussion of the actual issues. I'm saddened to find that I was wrong, but it's not going to wreck my life -- I've got better things to do, and nicer people to talk to, including my neighbours, friends, and colleagues in real life.