Nick Cohen on TRA bullies in The Spectator

[notyourhandmaid]

www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-hounding-of-a-scottish-poet-by-trans-activists

"For a witch hunt to begin extremists must so dominate a movement any sin, however slight, becomes a heresy the faithful must denounce for fear of being branded heretics themselves."

This is good. Familiar story - a woman notes that violent threats against women are being made, is labelled a transphobe, and excommunicated. But great to see Nick Cohen (he also wrote that JKR article for The Critic) delving into this madness.

Gillian Philip tweeted in support of JK Rowling, and was promptly dropped by her publisher. She spoke about it at Speakers' Corner in Edinburgh:

Archive of the Spectator article where it can be read in full is here: archive.vn/c2jhN

And, just for completeness, the before and after versions of the Skinny article where Brennan's comments about violence were amended:

I don't think a single Scottish writer has spoken out.
I have. But no one knows who I am! I signed the letter in support of JKR.

But you're right. It's dire here. Other writers shun me.

What about Irvine Welsh? Hasn’t he said anything!

That should have been a question mark.

That's awful queen of knives. I am a writer in Scotland - unpublished but agented - and I wouldn't shun you. I take heart from seeing other writers starting to take tentative gender critical steps, such as following GC people on Twitter, the odd like here and there. But I wish some more big names up here would speak up - surely they haven't all fallen for it?

I think they're all looking at JK and thinking they don't want to be in her shoes (for once). I will say, though, that I'm pretty sure I live in one of the wokest places on earth, and people here are brimming with zeal and fervour for the authorities to stamp down on thoughtcrime. I feel like they really, really mean it.

irvine welch has hinted that he is gc or at least pro free speech a couple of times i think.

@KimThomas

What about Irvine Welsh? Hasn’t he said anything!

You're right. I think he did although he isn't a signatory on the letter.

@queenofknives

I'm sorry but I think that's bullshit. She's accusing someone of sexual assault but where's the evidence? Did she go to the police? Was there any witness? I don't think you can casually just go about accusing men of being sex criminals just because you happen to disagree with them.

I don't know him. Perhaps you do. Just because he wrote things I agree with doesn't mean I don't question whether he could behave that way. I'm fortunate never to have been harassed and never had to decide whether to discuss it publicly. And I'm jaded enough to doubt the public persona of most people. I mean, I used to watch the Cosby Show as a kid. Anyway, at least he writes well. Good article.

The writer for The Skinny she was objecting to was "Cathy Brennan" , who went on to attempt to assault Julie Bindel.

Is that the transwoman who's taken the name "Cathy Brennan" as a deliberate bait aimed at Cathy Brennan, a prominent US lesbian-feminist activist?

I'm pretty sure I live in one of the wokest places on earth, and people here are brimming with zeal and fervour for the authorities to stamp down on thoughtcrime. I feel like they really, really mean it.

You certainly notice this zeal in wider politics with the worship of the Nicola Sturgeon by SNP supporters - no logic is required and no critical thinking allowed.

I don't know him and it could be true of course. The bullshit bit is throwing out a random claim on Twitter that he can't even respond to but hundreds of people will automatically believe (or pretend to believe because that suits their purposes.) I guess I see it as a baseless accusation because of the context, but you're right that it could be true. I tend to be sceptical of what TRAs say in response to articles about this topic.

Jenny Linday was just on Times Radio with Mariella Frostrup.

I didn't get to hear all of it because I was in the middle of something, but it was refreshing to hear a proper discussion on this, just like you would with anything else.

Thanks Mariella x

Melroses, I heard this item too and from the beginning. Jenny was allowed to explain what had happened in her own words. It could have done with a longer slot, in my opinion, but was interrupted by the 3pm news. However, Jenny came over well. Mariella asked her about support and she explained how organisations such as PEN which purport to support writers and free speech have done nothing to back her up - the opposite in fact. I find this one of the most shocking things of all.

It is shocking. These organisations are supposed to support writers.