The Guardian... Blind Date 23 November

There have been a few instances on TV's First Dates where women were paired with males who cross dress in stockings and heels (one was a drag artist with the respectful stage name of Bengina Hymen).

Why is it always the males dressing up who go on these things with a polite female? Why don't I see a woman cross dressing in baggy y-fronts and jogging bottoms going to meet a male who shows 'acceptance without exception'?

The show did pair a transman with a transwoman, but that's just like Fox and Owl isn't it

• heterosexual m and f couples.

They are probably realising they are in murky territory over this one and hoping it blows over.

I suspect they might be panicking that this era of TWAW/TMAM/all genders are valid along with a side order of ‘only bigots care about biological sex’ means that the entire Blind Dates column is now a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Anna, whatever it was you signed up to, I hope you are OK

I know it's annoying when some MRA douche bag uses an example of sexism against women and says we've brought it on ourselves

but in this case, the Guardian really have brought it on themselves

they've (figuratively) painted themselves into a corner

Just for context

US talk show host does the same, but in reverse. It ends in murder.

www.ajc.com/news/national/killer-jenny-jones-gay-crush-murder-released-from-prison/CMKsybhg5nhHzggybvHdNO/

@BovaryX
Shocked and appalled, with one defender saying that lesbians shouldn’t actually be considered human beings.

🙄 Definitely time for man meets trans woman blind date.

I don’t do Twitter. What is the general reaction?

Yes but would the Guardian have a box saying "I'm a lesbian happy to date transwomen"? Surely that's not woke as "TWAW", acceptance without exception etc.

And if that box was there to be ticked we would have heard about it by now!

I would guess from the Guardian's email that Jen put down lesbian and didn't disclose trans status. And if anyone noticed at the shoot they just smiled politely because acceptance without exception.

and now it's hit Twitter and sanity is prevailing, as usual.

Well it won’t allow comments, I think that’s a certainty.

It's almost impossible for The Guardian to spin this, isn't it? The person has admitted they didn't disclose they were trans.

The Guardian can't admit that any of their staff spotted they were trans (even if they did) so they can't say there was informed consent from the other party.

Unless The Guardian says that Emma ticked a box to say she was a lesbian who was happy to date transwomen. That's the only way they can re-position this. But it still raises questions about how little research they do on applicants before selecting them and it raises questions about how applicants can safely extricate themselves from a bad date.

I wonder how The Guardian will spin this?if this story gets wider media traction and more questions are asked?

It's completely fair to not mention the person's trans status in the article, after all, it's their business, and, surely not the most interesting thing about that person

However, if they withheld the person's trans status from their date, who had stated that she was single sex attracted - well, that's FUCKING HORRIFIC!

If I was the woman, I'd have the Guardian up in front of IPSO.

Fucking misogynistic disgrace.

I saw this at the weekend and immediately saw that it was a trans woman because the Adam's apple is completely visible apart from anything. I read to see if it was mentioned and it wasn't. I wasn't surprised because it was The Guardian but I certainly thought that both parties had gone into it openly and honestly. It's terrible that they don't check up on this kind of thing and that the trans woman didn't bother to tell them. Completely disrespectful and not at all acceptable. I think the woman handled it the best way she could. I feel for her.

stillathing I think he's taken his article down. I can't find it and he seems to have taken down the link to it from his Twitter. He may believe TWAW I don't know if he does or not but he may also believe in informed consent. I notice he did comment earlier that on a previous Blind Date, one of the participants was called a lesbian but was actually bi so there may be a pattern of confusion over orientation, at The Guardian.

I think one thing this shows is that if wokesters like the Guardian want to be all inclusive then they're going to have to start having 2 types of lesbians

1. lesbians as we we understand the term - i.e. same sex attracted
2. lesbians by the woke definition, who will have relationships with males (back in my day, we'd have said 'straight' or 'bisexual')

Even then, I don't think any lesbians can safely participate in this column again

the graun has to pretend that when they meet a person that we can all tell is male, they can't tell. so they can't adequately vet the candidates to ensure they don't put another woman in this position again. and we know that there is a subset of males who will tick the 'female' and 'lesbian' boxes, so can't be relied upon to self vet.

it;s mad (but we all knew that)

It's not quite clear exactly what this young lesbian woman signed up for. It sounds as if she wasn't prepared for this outcome but we don't have absolute clarity on this.

Seems that this is possibly reflective of the current pressure young lesbians feel. She might have ticked a box that said she was inclusive of all genders/pansexual etc...not wanting to be accused of bigotry but also not really expecting the Guardian would actually pair her with someone male.

Or maybe she just ticked the lesbian box and the Guardian made a 'woke' decision on her behalf.

I'm so appalled at the pressure young females are under right now.

Much as I love the Guyliner's writing I'm pretty sure he believes TWAW (therefore there's no problem here) and has used the t* slur in the past. Jury's out on whether he dates transmen.

And yes I found “I’d like to see her glasses steaming up again” comment quite sleazy, the bottle of wine was interesting too.

Funny how the Guardian chose a lesbian to set up on a blind date with trans women.

Would they have set up a straight man with a trans women without his knowledge? Very much doubt it

I've just read this on twitter and am absolutely gobsmacked.

HUGELY misogynistic of the Guardian. They would NEVER set up a straight guy on a blind date with a TW, ever.

That said, I think we need to respect Anna’s privacy. It’s bad enough that her date has now low-key attacked her on Twitter. We don’t know her sexuality and she deserves our solidarity and support regardless of what it is.

Thanks Flois

Julie writes: This is terrible. Absolutely shockingly horrible. It brings back every single instance for me when men threatened actually sexually assaulted me for refusing to have sex with them. I am disgusted at the Guardian if this is true.

I wonder if The Guyliner will acknowledge the controversy. He writes a weekly column about the dates (which is usually better than the original date column) and he was very positive about it. Although I assume, at that point, he would have thought everyone knew all the facts before they agreed to participate.

True, I don’t know why I’m bad mouthing parquet when I just spent 2 weeks restoring some in my hallway.