Graham Linehan’s Book

An article in the sidebar about a Naked Attraction contestant being injured by a 'well-endowed' man she picked from the show. Just what sort of newspaper is the Independent these days? Used to be the sort of thing only the Daily Sport would have published.

He should be embarrassed by that article. It's steeped in gender ideology language (a massive red flag in itself) and doesn't at any point address any issues with self id - which is a large part of what Graham talks about.

He also managed to do an article (in March this year) about how great Frankie Boyle is without once even tangentially mentioning his deeply controversial (and often misogynist/rapey) jokes, strangely enough.

@ummah in my fantasy future, teenagers are asked to critique what a hopeless excuse for journalism that Independent piece is.

Ridiculously incompetent review from a TRA 'journalist' at The Independent.

www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/graham-linehan-tough-crowd-book-trans-b2428578.html

Of course that's not to say that all the other people fighting on the same side weren't as or probably more important, not least Janice Turner, and her always measured articles in the Times.

Good review, but I don't see Graham's story as a 'tragedy'. It's a classic 'hero fighting for justice' story, and its not finished yet. We're just coming out of the bit of his story where the hero is at his lowest point, but still battling against the seemingly insuperable forces arraigned against him.

I honestly believe people will be laughing at Father Ted long after the whole trans nonsense is recognised as a horrific medical scandal facilitated by a collective madness among educated elites in politics, journalism and academia.

Nicer review in Spiked

https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/10/12/tough-crowd-the-tragedy-of-graham-linehan/

I read it over two days - it’s an entertaining read but also sad and frustrating that so few people had his back. They wanted him to shut up, and he wouldn’t (or couldn’t) because he has a daughter he wants to fight for. And so much of his downfall was sparked by an inaccurate report in the Guardian! I’d be so bitter.

I wonder what would have happened if Graham had employed a strategy to keep quiet temporarily, get the Ted musical out of the way, and then return to his outspoken ways? It would have been too late to cancel him by then and he’d have been financially secure.

My takeaway from it is he’s an impulsive, passionate man - he’s not one to hold back, even when he can see the damage it’s causing him. I hope fans of his work will read the book to find out more about the comedies they love - and maybe, just maybe, they’ll come to understand why he holds perfectly reasonable gender-critical views, and why that’s not hateful. He’s standing up for women, gay people and vulnerable, impressionable kids who are disadvantaged by the rise of gender ideology. If trans activism didn’t impact the rights of others, he’d have had no need to criticise it.

Just finished, to me it's definitely a book of two halves, first half quite light but the second half, describing his ostracism by those he thought he could trust is heartbreaking. His passion for the GC cause shines through even at the heavy cost, he could have capitulated so many times but his integrity won every time

Arty Morty points out the social snobbery and score settling in this review. It's also a bit of a 'demarcation dispute' as they were know to us old union hacks.

Can't have this uncouth fellow invading our turf. Turner is just a name to me so I googled. Married to the editor of the Sunday Times , her sister paper. Her late father in law was editor of the Guardian.

How like rural Ireland the London arts and media crowd are at the back of it all 😂. You'd never know whose cousin you were talking to. Is this part of the reason we are in this nightmare?

😆😆😆 I’m imagining it sat on a table in the centre of a large room under a lead shield

“who amongst you is willing to read the thoughts of the impure one??”

No sign yet of a review in the Guardian.

I don't judge him for his excesses. He's been out on a limb the whole time. He's lost so much. I don't care if he's a bit extra at times. We're all fighting this fight our own way, and demands for ideological or tactical purity are more divisive than anything Glinner could do.

Agree with you.

Just re-read - I mean no longer gets paid

I think some of Janice's criticism is fair - it's not really helpful to call David Tennant a "groomer", for example. Lots of people who aren't particularly au fait with the debate, but admire Tennant, will dismiss Glinner as being histrionic. More importantly, if they think he represents the GC view, that makes the job of the rest of us harder. Look at people like Maya Forstater, Kathleen Stock, Helen Joyce - they have all been admirably calm on Twitter and don't go round calling people Nazis.

But her comment about him "posting photos of transwomen on lesbian dating sites, even joining up himself in a bad wig to prove any man can" is massively unfair. Those particular activities did a brilliant job of showing how heterosexual men were infiltrating lesbian dating sites, and did so in a humorous way. I'm sure they'll have caused a number of people to reach the peak of Mount Trans.

Started reading it last night, hard to put down. Glad to see he can still produce the giggles!

I agree with this.

It's ok to sometimes like what someone writes and sometimes disagree with it. And I mean both Janice and Glinner. Janice has I think been true to her core beliefs in all her articles - she was a poster here years ago. I wouldn't expect anything less from her regarding this.

She’s entitled to her view as they say. Janice’s articles in the times have been brilliant, measured, thoughtful & at times crackling with cold fury.

But TRA didn't get where they are by screaming bigot at people on Twitter. They got where they are by spending years smoozing the type of people who run the country - who often read The Times - and persuading them that everything they asked for was reasonable. Those people read Janice’s articles and see the reason in them

However you need all sorts in a fight. glinners sheer relentless & refusal to be ‘reasonable’ or calm or polite also has its place. When TRA were screaming and initimidating people into silence or apologising, he wouldn’t be quiet & he wouldn’t apologise

if it hadn’t been for glinner ranting on Twitter I wouldn’t have become aware when I did. It’s his story, he’s put it out there & we can judge for ourselves. I’m sure he’ll live with Janice’s disappointment in his tactics. He’s lived with a lot worse than that

I love Janice Turner but was very disappointed by this review.
The comments are worth a read - as someone pointed out, Janice gets paid to write about her views, whereas Graham only longer gets paid because he spoke out.

Got my copy yesterday and stayed up late reading. It's so funny and just carries you along.

That review is a disgrace.

Gone down massively in my estimation.

I wasn't surprised, but more surprised that the Times would stoop to such cheap journalism. And she was really stooping into the gutter to include his wife as supporting her opinion.

But also in terms of a review it doesn't work.

Almost better to have got someone from the business section or sports to read it and see if it has an impact, or just leaves someone not aware of the issue, just as baffled.

It appears that Glinner’s fatal flaw is that he is not a woman, and very possibly not sincere or is hi-jacking what is not his issue for nefarious purposes

That Times hack job was by Janice Turner. I can't tell you how disappointed I am in her. Gone down massively in my estimation.

It's the easy shot someone was bound to make, though, isn't it? But talk's cheap when you haven't invested.