Giles Fraser - how pasta made him a t***

Transsexuals who have gone through a "medical transition" are not where the problem lies, it's largely trans activists, who have self-identified into special identities or who have become intoxicated in accruing power to abuse people they don't like.

Well said @nauticant

Nope, it was Giles's male friend being on the receiving end of the trans activists' bullying that forced him to speak out. We've said it many times before, but a lot of men just don't see women, do they?

That is shite. I didn't realise he wrote for the Guardian.

Here's the piece he wrote about the woman who should have been looking after her elderly father:

unherd.com/2019/02/why-wont-remainers-talk-about-family/

did Giles think it was ok when his so-called friend and former Guardian colleague, Suzanne Moore was hounded from her job?

Good point. And how generous of Suzanne to invite him in to the private meal anyway, even though he hadn't stood up for her.

Not just Suzanne, of course - all those women who have received violent threats of murder, rape and torture; all the women who have been hounded off social media, or lost their jobs, or had their publishing contracts terminated; all those women trapped in jail with rapists; all the women who have lost out on sporting medals because they now have to compete against men.

Nope, it was Giles's male friend being on the receiving end of the trans activists' bullying that forced him to speak out. We've said it many times before, but a lot of men just don't see women, do they?

Giles seems to be an intelligent man, or usually anyway. Like most men, he’s not always a friend to women, although I’d never read his piece about us being forced into caring for relatives, which grates massively. I’m a pragmatist and will take support for women’s rights wherever I find it, but I can’t pretend that I’m not pissed off by the fact that it took a broken window, owned by a man, to finally shake Giles from his ignorant torpor.

re the Triggernometry video - again, yes it’s awful that some men on minimum wage, doubtless, may lose their jobs as a result of fake reviews, of course it is, but did Giles think it was ok when his so-called friend and former Guardian colleague, Suzanne Moore was hounded from her job? Surely that was Giles’ big cue to speak up rather than his mate’s broken window? I hope Giles continues to think about what’s happening to women the world over and not reduce everything to a piece of broken plate glass 🤷🏻‍♀️

I thought the comments were about what I'd expect from Unherd readers, I wouldn't say there has been a particular change.

I have some sympathy for men who think they are supposed to stay out of this stuff. It's all over the progressive left - you don't get to have an opinion if you don't belong to the right group, and if you think you should you are clearly an oppressor. Stay in your lane. It's not uncommon to see on these boards.

If someone accepts that on other issues they will accept it on this one too. Enough so that it takes seeing really egregious behaviour first hand to make them rethink.

I find the use of medical technology to transgress these limits to be Faustian in its hubris.

His comprehension is as deep as a puddle. Transsexuals who have gone through a "medical transition" are not where the problem lies, it's largely trans activists, who have self-identified into special identities or who have become intoxicated in accruing power to abuse people they don't like.

Still, let more and more communities come to their own imperfect understandings that there's a particularly toxic brand of identity politics in operation that has been given free range to abuse without consequences.

exactly what I came here to say. brain saw Giles and t* and filled in "Cohen"

I'm going to eat there - and I shall tell them why

I thought this was about Giles Coren, because he often reviews restaurants and he definitely is a twat so total confusion here.

And by the way, Giles - very few of us 'TERFS' want to be unkind or rude to individual trans people either.

We are not transphobic, you know!

At least he is honest.

The problem is that 'nice liberal men' think it is OK to sit back and listen while women get death threats, rape threats, etc, and their sex based rights trashed.

It was his nice male friend getting his windows smashed that drew him to solidarity - with his friend! What about the women who were so kind as to welcome him to their table, who had endured years of vile abuse, boycotts, lost jobs?

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing....

But at least he got their in the end.

I assumed twat and thought 'but he already is'.

Exactly what I was thinking!

The sex caste with supporting roles must be kept in their place.

Of course he is only moved to comment on something when it affects a male acquaintance.

He is a bit of a t**t. He wrote a piece a couple of years ago about how women with elderly parents should be looking after them rather than hiring carers.

Still, one more person speaking out on the side of righteousness has to be a good thing. At this stage, I'm not fussy.

Right. So because his bloke pal got 1 star reviews, he wants to speak, but he sat across from and had a chat with JK and he didn't want to speak up against what she and other women have had to live with?? Have his trans friends gone MTF? Seems like he respects and defends men. Not women.

It reads like a bandwagon jump. That's cool with me. We just need more.

A bit besides the point, but I ate in Il Portico last year, and it was excellent. The manager came over and introduced himself and welcomed us personally, and the food was amazing.

The restaurant owner was on triggernometry - it was a good watch. The owner made some really good points - he employs people who might struggle to get jobs elsewhere and he laid out the impact of these negative reviews on these people and their families.

So it might be safe now to come out as gender critical?

I do feel angry at this world which let all those brave women face the storm all alone, when so many of them got fired and threatened and so on.

I have begun to keep extensive records so that when the "where were all the women to stop this?" and "why didn't feminists do anything?" statements begin to get increasingly common.

Otherwise the history of this era won't even mention Mumsnet! Or any woman other than JK Rowling who is too big to be erased.

Still, better late than never.

I couldn't read the article on UnHerd today because I've used my free limit for the month but I can read the comments and they are I think the best part of it because they discuss the use of language and why we shouldn't yield to the altered language, preferred pronouns and so on. I often think that when people say it's only being polite. It's about much more than that.

So was i!

I couldn't see additional information in the article to imply that the restaurant burglary wasn't random.