One of the most shocking things I read recently was by Howard Beckett, the left (!) candidate to succeed Len McCluskey: "Evil Transphobia has no place in the movement. That some Labour MPs openly flaunt their transphobic credentials causes unspeakable pain to a part of our community already marginalised. Always stand shoulder to shoulder with the oppressed. Never the oppressor."
It got me thinking about false consciousness and performative stances: how can someone who declares himself on the side of the oppressed stand against women who dare to raise concerns about men self-identifying as women?
Then I also read his apology about Priti Patel - where he repeatedly misidentifies two Sikh migrants as Muslim: "Priti Patel message on Eid al Fitr is to deport Muslim refugees"; "I was angry to see Muslim Refugees being deported on the morning of Eid Al Fitr". This is akin to misidentifying them as Pakistani (or mistaking Samuel L Jackson for Laurence Fishbourne), and was basically...racist while crowing his performative anti-racist credentials.