The Guardian... Blind Date 23 November

It's possible to tell from the photo alone

I also read the feature on Saturday and from glancing at the photo it took my unconscious mind about 0.5 nanoseconds to see what the basic situation was.

I'm glad to find there's a thread about this - I was wondering - but not happy that Anna is being harassed. There was no way for her to win here.

Julie Bindel is on it

That’s great. I really hope the media picks this up and reports it. What a despicable paper. It’s just incredible that this kind of misogynistic homophobic bullying is deemed acceptable.

I bloody love a parquet floor though Bernard. Bigot.

I read the original article at the weekend and thought it was odd they were both described as lesbians when one was obviously trans. The steaming up glasses comment definitely jarred. It was noticably out of step with the date and actually with the entire tone of Guardian Blind Date.

The magazine needs to take responsibility. They can't pretend they arranged a photo shoot and didn't notice.

Never read the Guardian much (too insular and smug). This is fucking atrocious though. They would NEVER set up a straight man with a tw. Or a gay man with a tm!
Maybe Anna was ok with it in theory and just later realised that [what i really want to say deleted by self as would be a strike] she really does only fancy women.

Julie Bindel is on it.

Sorry can't get a screenshot but hope this is the thread:
mobile.twitter.com/bindelj/status/1199267597407129600

It's quite possible Anna is actually a woke young thing who is same "gender" attracted but just didn't fancy Jen, who is now smearing her as a bigot and villifying her in a nasty fit of incel rage.

Yes.

Seems fairly clear to me that Anna attempted what every woman on earth will recognise - a staged ghosting because the er... er... rules.... rules.... "person" you went on a date with exhibited sufficient red flags for you to fear the consequences of a blunt no.

I'm actually flabbergasted.

Deborah Orr used to edit that magazine, she is sorely missed.

And this from Anna too:

If you could change one thing about the evening, what would it be?
I’d shoot down the dessert wine idea.

Crappy, shitty thing for the Guardian to do.

Though on this occasion I'd give Lil OJ a pass on the grounds that he self-identifies as far too serious a journalist to have anything to do with Weekend.

"And signed off "Weekend" rather than an actual name"

we all know it was Owen Jones

That's my point, Zanahoria. Anna could be same sex attracted, or could be same gender attracted. We don't know.

We also don't know whether the Guardian checked which of the two she was.

What we do know - from their own Twitter feed - is that Jen seems to be imputing the worst motives.

That 'I'd like to make her glasses steam up again' is just crude male sexual innuendo. How horrible for Anna. 23 is still very young. I bet she sat in that restaurant in a panic, wondering how she was going to get out of the situation without losing her job and being plastered all over the internet as the terf who walked out of a blind date.

This was a hateful thing of the Guardian to do. I haven't bought it for years but still click on it occasionally. Now that's going to stop.

It's interesting that the Guardian has replied and said that Jen didn't disclose being trans. And signed off "Weekend" rather than an actual name. They are probably realising they are in murky territory over this one and hoping it blows over.

Also interesting that the whole story was leaked to Lara Adams-Miller. Otherwise it would never have come out at all.

Bovary no idea how or why it is seen to be be ok. That was the report I got back after I reported it (in a matter of minutes, I might add), so its not just my cousin's dog's aunt's neighbour's hearsay. Yet women are routinely banned for saying things like "women don't have penises".

(And I saw it on a GC FB page so it wasn't just me reporting it either)

www.theguardian.com/info/2014/sep/12/-sp-how-to-make-a-complaint-about-guardian-or-observer-content

that whole twitter read is chilling

For complaints:www.theguardian.com/info/2014/sep/12/-sp-how-to-make-a-complaint-about-guardian-or-observer-content

Email:
[email protected]

The article you’re complaining about.

The date on which it appeared.

Whether the article appeared in print or online (and whether through a browser or via one of our mobile apps).

The nature of your complaint in no more than 500 words.

Which part of the Editorial Code it breaches (see link to website).

You can also get in touch with the readers’ editor’s office by phone on +44 (0)20 3353 4736 between 10am and 1pm Monday to Friday UK time.

" It's quite possible Anna is actually a woke young thing who is same "gender" attracted but just didn't fancy Jen, who is now smearing her as a bigot and villifying her in a nasty fit of incel rage."

its important to respect her privacy and not speak for her

but questions need to be aimed at the Guardian about the policy and subsequent harrassment

Buzz, that image was deemed acceptable? How is that not hate speech? It is violent misogyny which seems to be currently not only acceptable. But fashionable. It’s bloody appalling

This is horrific. It's homophobic and it put a woman at risk.

And yes, the Guardian would know - this article explains how it all works:

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/31/10-years-of-blind-date-weddings-babies-lost-knickers

'But before anyone loses their underwear, lovers must be matched. Nina’s cupid powers come into play at the photoshoot, where participants are photographed before their night out. It’s a tightly run production line, as I found when I joined her last month. Daters are escorted from the Guardian’s reception to a small studio and given 15 to 20 minutes to make the magic happen. Nina attends all the shoots, asking questions as she watches, her mind a Rolodex of potential matches. “You’ll see for yourself,” she says, as we wait for the first person to arrive. “Sometimes, something just clicks. But yes, there’s also a spreadsheet.”'

I wonder what choices Guardian soul mates offer regarding sex, gender etc

There's something so lecherous about it, isn't there?

I read that blind date and the comment ‘I’d like to see her glasses fog up again’ really Jarred.