The Guardian... Blind Date 23 November

[Backinthecloset123]

I post this aware that I might get a warning.

However!

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/23/blind-date-jen-anna-glasses-fog-up

The woman, a lesbian, Anna (and the Guardian readership) did not reveal that Jen is a trans woman.

The whole thing is gaslighting.
And I may be deleted for that sentence.
There is a good thread on Twitter which I'll link.

Bernard well said.

By the way, the Guardian meets each blind datee in person before the date, and photographs them.

The Guardian knew exactly what they were doing. They knew. They cannot deny it.

Indeed. That's why the Guardian's response of "Jen didn't disclose that she is trans during the selection process and this isn't a question that we ask though some people choose to share" is so mendacious. Their "we weren't explicitly told" is very different from "we didn't know".

Didn’t the men who went on “There’s something About Miriam” end up suing the producers and winning?

That was the show in which a group of straight men competed to date a hot woman, who unbeknownst to them was trans.

they sued but settled out of court

I guess they all had something to gain from the programme being broadcast

Can someone point me to Anna's or Jen's tweets about this? I can't find them - though I've seen the threads from Bindel and others.

It's like a cruel parody of Jeremy Beadles 'Game for a Laugh'. I cant believe how appallingly cruel this is.

I always opt for the cockup rather than the conspiracy theory of history so I am going to take a punt that Weekend Guardian didn't set out to deceive and then gaslight this poor young woman, and that everyone looked and thought 'WTF' but that nobody wanted to be the one who said it out loud.

Which (if correct) is not to excuse them in the slightest - it's exactly how very bad stuff happens. But I think The Guardian leadership also share responsibility because it's their spinelessness that has allowed it to happen.

Hello - just in case it's useful to know how the Guardian Blind Date thing works (I've been on one!). You send in your info and who you would like to date, then when they find someone they think would be a match, they contact you and ask if you'd like to go on the date. Obvs you don't see a pic of your potential date and the Guardian just go on what you have told them, i.e. I told them I was a woman looking to date a man. All other info I provided was very basic - age, location, a few interests. Prior to the date, they send a photographer around to your house or place of work to take the (individual) photo that will be used in the paper after the date. You go on the date, they email you a questionnaire, you fill it in and email it back, then a few weeks later you're in the magazine. They edit your answers down too. Hope that's helpful.

I think you're probably right, Floisme. They didn't realise that Jen was trans until Jen turned up at the office for the photoshoot. Judging from the 10th anniversary article, two people attend each photoshoot - the Blind Date editor and the photographer. Both probably felt too uncomfortable to say anything. But of course they could still have warned Anna ahead of the date itself - the question is, did they?

nauticant "Their "we weren't explicitly told" is very different from "we didn't know"."

Plausible deniability is not a good defence.

Wiki definition (my bold): "Plausible deniability is the ability of people (typically senior officials in a formal or informal chain of command) to deny knowledge of or responsibility for any damnable actions committed by others in an organizational hierarchy because of a lack of evidence that can confirm their participation, even if they were personally involved in or at least willfully ignorant of the actions. In the case that illegal or otherwise disreputable and unpopular activities become public, high-ranking officials may deny any awareness of such acts to insulate themselves and shift blame onto the agents who carried out the acts, as they are confident that their doubters will be unable to prove otherwise."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausible_deniability

Just to add that only the photographer came round to do the pics for the date that I went on, but we were located outside London so I don't know if there's an editor present at the photo shoot for any London-based dates. They were done fairly swiftly, mine was at my house and my date had his done at the office.

Wow I read the article today and had no idea, I went back to it now and I suppose the adams apple is a sign.
Saying that I assume that the people have a list of requirements and tick whatever boxes are appropriate to them.
I cant believe that someone could box a lesbian and a trans woman into the same box

I cant believe that someone could box a lesbian and a trans woman into the same box

Could it have been as simple as boxes marked:

I am a man/woman

I am interested in dating a man/woman

In a "ask no questions, tell no lies, #innocentface" way?

(although this being The Guardian, probably an "other" option for both questions too)

Does someone at the paper contact the participants after the date to ask how it went? At that point, they could have discreetly asked Anna how she felt about it and then not run the piece.

Where was the care for her, as she's now being shamed across social media and her photo and name are in the public domain?

The Guardian really doesn't give a shit about women, does it? And all of this happening under its first female editor.

Anna may very well be Woke, but if she isnt, there is no way in hell she can do anything but deny any coersion and/or up the TWAW love.
Her life would be a nightmare otherwise at the hands of TRAs.

I’ve emailed The Guardian to complain, thanks for the email a PP posted.

I think the Guardian has been put in a difficult position and isn't necessarily at fault.

The photographer may have suspected Jen was trans but if Jen didn't disclose it then it would be a tricky question to ask.

The editor may not have noticed the Adam's apple - I didn't when I read it on Sat.

If nobody else actually met Jen then how could they possibly have known she was trans?

Jen is the one in the wrong for not disclosing it. It's just basic respect and good manners.

The Guardian have removed the article aparently

Oh wait, sorry. Only the Guyliner’s piece has been removed.

Maybe not:

archive.md/MD5O4

trulyconfused
You send in your info and who you would like to date
Do you fill out some form? Does it ask about trans, pansexual anything like that? Or just man/woman, woman/woman type thing?

posterOncewasblueandyellowtwo Not that I remember but it was about 8 years ago, I had a look through my emails but can't really find anything as I have changed account since then. After the date they send you an email entitled, 'How was your date' and that has the questions in it.

trulyconfused
OK thanks for the info anyway.

If the Blind Date editor met Jen first then it's 'feasible' that she asked Anna her view on TWAW and discussed if she'd be ok with dating a transwomen. However, The Guardian's cagey email response implies that wasn't the case. Or they may just realise there is no way in the current climate to admit they had that conversation.