David Tennant: women should "shut up"

[jacksonlamb]

As a (now ex) David Tennant fan I was so disappointed to hear his speech yesterday. Whilst talking about trans rights he told his audience that he wanted a world where "we wake up and Kemi Badenoch doesn't exist anymore. I don't wish ill of her, I just wish her to shut up."

(There's some devious doublespeak here: if you wish someone didn't exist, you obviously wish them ill).

But more importantly, how dare he tell women to shut up about women's rights. Yet again powerful and privileged men tell women what they are and are not allowed to say. They must shut up whilst men speak. Their views are wrong, men are right.

Anyone has the right to believe that the rights of trans people are more important than the rights of women (although I believe this is profoundly wrong). What they do not have the right to do is bully, belittle and threaten women who disagree with them; who are trying to protect their hard fought rights.

I despair.

Goodness knows.

A constant protestation from TRAs is that anyone who questions the need to uphold women's spaces or women's sports is somehow, by definition, suggesting they don't want trans people to exist.

I have never yet met one women's rights advocate making such a claim. Yet here, a TRA claims he wants a particular woman no longer to exist. And in order to achieve this end, what then?

Anyone having problems computing this? Because unless this bloke is purposely on a wind-up, I can't.

Actually no. I wish Trump would stop existing and shut up. He spouts hateful speech and I want him to shut up.

To many people but especially to those who have trans and non binary children, the anti trans rhetoric that is being used and that sadly so many women are falling for is hateful and personal. It’s not just a ‘different view’. It’s a direct attack on people they love.

Honestly the whole debate is so toxic. It’s a ridiculous culture war that is feeding in to irrational and biased fear and it’s so depressing that on MN, so many women have decided that this is the battle to fight on women’s rights. It’s not. And if you keep gravitating towards those like Kemi who pander to these views, you’re going to be very disappointed with where the rights of women end up. (Spoilers, it won’t be in affordable childcare, better paid maternity, lower instances of domestic violence or more choices for women)

Are you aware that she has expressed views in relation to topics other than trans-related issues?

He's a prick and I really hope biological women keep fighting for our rights and don't shut up and put up with being told that we should allow men to take part and compete against women in sports or that women should no longer have safe spaces or own toilets.

World has gone completely bonkers whilst I couldn't care less if someone wanted to call themselves a cucumber or prance about with knickers on their head I am getting pissed off now with this utter bollocks of bowing down for a minority and always being told by men what a woman is fuck right off!

I wish Trump would stop existing and shut up. He spouts hateful speech and I want him to shut up.

It would be lovely were he to shut up. It would be even lovelier were he disqualified from going anywhere near politics, given he's done nothing short of trying to undermine the US democractic constitution.

To stop existing? No. That would be to wish him dead.

Tell you what I think is vile:

Posh white man wishes for the disappearance of Britains single most prominent Black female politicians
His posh white audience brays in approval, waving their champagne glasses.

White supremacy at its finest.

Or does someone who wants us to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (which might be said to be vaguely relevant to the rights of women worldwide) and do "whatever it takes" to stop small boats and reduce refugee numbers (also vaguely relevant to the wellbeing of women, I believe) suddenly become your best friend because an actor who is pro trans rights has said he wished she'd shut up?

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

People do not have ‘trans and non-binary children’. They have sons and daughters.

He also wore a t-shirt with the slogan "Leave trans kids alone you absolute freaks" He's quite aggressive against people who might question the practice of transitioning children. As the evidence mounts against it, the people like David who loudly supported socially or medically transitioning kids are getting more entrenched and angry.

Well it's going to be a difficult climb down for someone like him. The Cass review would have given him significant pause (if he'd read it, I bet he's trying to discredit that too).

His 'trans child' is 10 fgs.

Well blimey - so many emails re quoting my post. I stand by it. Badenoch is a far right nasty piece of work and the most inappropriate Minister for Equalities we have ever had.

She's the Minister for Women and Equality. I don't think it was anything to do with her race.

You're dealing with an echo chamber. I doubt they know anything about her. Nevermind the fact that her party allowed trans ideology into schools and the public sector while she stood by wringing her hands.

Precisely this.

And whatever people may think of her personal views, one thing she's certainly not doing is making herself out to be a victim or claiming 'most marginalized minority in society, ever' status. She's simply stated a bald refusal to be bullied or silenced by someone speaking from the security of significantly more dominant social groups.

From that perspective she has more mettle than most TRAs put together.

Total rubbish @Hiphopopotamonster .There is no culture war. Women want to retain their single sex spaces, sports and other areas. Men pretending to be women (and the people who pretend they think they are women as we all know nobody really believes this) are trampling all over women’s rights.

Women want to retain the right to speak about themselves correctly (mother, woman, femaleNOT intended parent, bleeder, cervix haver, person with ovaries 🤮 ). Speaking up about this is not toxic.

Neither is speaking up about children being encouraged to ruin their perfectly good bodies with medication and surgery. I’m so fed up of this complete and utter regressive NONSENSE.

if we can’t define a woman how can we do anything to improve women’s rights. If women can’t get access to correct medical information how can women’s healthcare be improved? If men can compete in women’s sports and take jobs on women’s panels and women’s scholarships how does this help women’s opportunities? If a woman has to stand up in court and call the man who abused them a woman and watch as they are sent to a women’s prison or shower in a women’s shelter alongside a man how does that help improve abuse and domestic violence? Of course it’s a huge women’s rights issue.

The 'Be Kind' mob are always the first to call for people they don't like to not exist any more.

Thus making them the least kind.

Another day in Upside Down World fuelled by Queer Theory.

Actually it is you who is being inaccurate. If you read what he actually said, he talking about trans rights. So he was criticising KB on her stance on trans rights. Not as a Tory.
My point stands: criticising a woman for speaking out to defend women's rights and telling her to shut up.

She issued a blunt refusal to be silenced by a 'rich, lefty white male' blinded by ideology.

In other words, she's not going to kow tow to a member of the most privileged social groups dictating to women (again).

For this, she's fielded that usual cliched racist accusation (not here that I can see, but elsewhere on the www) of 'playing the race card'.

Hardly.

You are misrepresenting what he said and I smell an agenda...

He said that Kemi Badenoch should pipe down because of her views on trans issues because he considers them hateful.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with her being a woman or being black.

In fact as a woman I tend to think 'shut up' every time I hear a Tory speak, man or woman...

Badenoch is also the one who said it was a 'trivial' matter when Frank Hester said that Diane Abbott 'made him want to hate all black women and that she 'should be shot'. There was no solidarity from her, she was only too happy to support the privileged white idiot who said those words.

So I have no sympathy for her trying to play the victim card here.

Ricky Gervais's words are apposite here: "Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. You're in no position to lecture the public on anything."

Being charitable, I think he might have meant 'cease to exist as a political voice' rather than that he wanted her annihilated, but in a world where GC female politicians need protection and can't attend their hustings, his words were ill-advised, to say the least.

What a fucking dickhead he is.

I was ready to be outraged but to be fair I sometimes wish Kemi or Priti would should up, Katie Hopkins too to be fair

This!