Ofcom ruling on Piers Morgan identifying as a penguin

[nettie434]

Ofcom has decided that Piers Morgan’s comments about identifying as a penguin were not transphobic and don’t need to be investigated:

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/piers-morgan-good-morning-britain-ofcom-gender-penguin_uk_5dc05198e4b0615b8a96d164?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvLnVrLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADa6uh3HCkWoXTKWPS_q2ERZhJofLN4xgCjsNb3dTc8qcmZyov5LZ511LPcdu0orNzguDVnv6QoKSl9Wnd4AuQJ2ofDPqdwmgSwCu-00s7Q-95H7ZaIlmwHNWo_oxPCN7f82EhhPnenFTejkk_e58SuqdIeMdbiPjVp6KdPq1q3c&guccounter=2

I thought the remarks were tasteless and unsympathetic but yet again there was an orchestrated plan to get him sacked so this seems like the right decision.

Sorry about long link!

I can imagine a TRA trying to explain why what PM said is silly. Is it because he can't possibly be a penguin?

So we can all identify as what the fuck we like, and no one can cry 'Transphobia'!

Great, I'm glad that's been cleared up!

Cranberries one tried on the show to explain why two spirit penguin was silly and disrespectful but (frost gender, fern gender, goliath gender...) other genders aren't. PM asked why others were allowed to do this and he wasn't. There wasn't really an answer, other than sincerity of purpose. India Willoughby then took over from PM and explained to the TRA (who I think was gay male, possibly NB) how very fed up India was with him and with much of the TRA lobby. Woke bloke then tried to explain to India (who I believe has fully transitioned in every possible way over a long period of time) trans genderism. India was not impressed.

I noticed in the linked articles below the penguin story is one about theatres cancelling the use of the phrase "ladies and gentlemen" in the name of equality.

‘Oi people, errrr humans, creatures? Beings?’ I remember reading a piece about someone who initially thought they were transgender (and their family went with them on that journey) - the realised, d’oh, that they were actually - an alien. They didn’t really understand why their family wasn’t very supportive in their new found identity.

I'll be listening at the panto this year to see if this wokeness is catching.I'm betting it will still be ok for men to dress as women to play the ugly stepsisters though.

"Welcome, carbon based lifeforms. Except those of you who identify as being made of volatile gasses, wouldn't want you to feel excluded."

To whom is "ladies and gentlemen" offensive? If trans women are women, then they would be included as "ladies", surely?

To whom is "ladies and gentlemen" offensive? If trans women are women, then they would be included as "ladies", surely?

Nonbinaries, I assume. Tbh losing 'ladies and gentlemen' in favour of an entirely neutral greeting is fine by me - it's an example of unnecessary distinction between the sexes. If you're in a male-dominated workplace, for instance, I think most feminists would prefer events to use neutral terms.

@TrampStamps

Non-binaries I'm guessing.

*But how can we truly know if Piers was identifying in jest or in seriousness?

Therein lies the eternal problem with innate identities.*

Well said TrampStamps

Wasn’t there a king who thought he was made of glass? I bet no one dared tell him he wasn’t.

*Penguins wear tuxedos.

By the rules of identity, this means ALL penguins are male.

Only if they can do a decent foxtrot with no waddling*

Have you not seen Happy Feet? They can dance.

We can tango too.

Sincerity of purpose?

If Piers says I am sincere and so is my purpose, what possible refutation can Mr Non-binary make?

None.

Although, i'd love to see him call Piers a liar, and explain on what basis he says so.

Frankly, I think the gender bollocks is going to be short lived. The next generation will reject it as a matter of course.

Transgenderism not so much. There are too many men invested in it.

Of course penguins can tango! They spend all that time in Argentina.

I bet they also samba.

As for the foxtrot, Lang, foxes ask that penguins not appropriate their particular way of trotting, which they have developed after centuries of being hunted by oppressors and those who think foxes are perverts who only want into henhouses to eat chickens.

Penguins need to stay in their lane.

Penguintrot if you don't mind.

Got to keep those uppity horses in their lane...

I think the criticism of susanna was unbelievable. No one could have got a word in edgeways with those three. Literally PM, India and little Ben Penis news were ranting without breath!

Apparently his comment was borderline ridiculing a protected characteristic. Is non binary a protected characteristic? Gender reassignment is one to another surely?

Yes Kat! Gender identity is neither defined nor protected. Including non binary.

Colin from Eastenders is very cross, to the extent he's deployed all his best "what if-ery" to try and make a point!

"Profoundly disagree with this ruling. What if his views were racist, anti-Semitic, would that be acceptable because he was expressing his views? He’s not there to express his views but to engage on behalf of the public? Otherwise he would be doing a commentary piece."

He’s not there to express his views but to engage on behalf of the public.

He is actually familiar with Piers Morgan, right?

What if his views were racist, anti-Semitic, would that be acceptable

It wouldn't be acceptable. But it was none of those things, and it wasn't transphobic.

This tactic of saying if it was this it would be bad is wearing very thin.

"He's not there to express his views"

He is, though. Regardless of whether or not you agree with those views that is in fact what he's paid for. If Cashman wants a journobot who "engages on behalf of the public" without expressing their own views then perhaps he should build one. He won't though, because then he might have to admit that as someone who feels entitled to express his own views he's being a teensy bit hypocritical.