Ben Cohen in the Times

[Igneococcus]

"Westminster used to agree on LGBT+ rights. What happened?" he asks. I'm sure the comments will tell him and he won't listen:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/6c7b9c5a-e003-11eb-bac0-9597568b601f?shareToken=f472d35266ed238f4f8f181715bda78e

It's going so well for Ben in the comments!

I like the one that answers his question of what happened with "You happened, Ben!"

LOL

Oh dear, are Times readers not as gullible as your readership, Ben?

It reminds me of Crispin Blunt's angry spluttering about Liz Truss daring to ignore his recommendations.

It's seems a long time since Ben Cohen had anything coherent to say and a far cry from the days when Pink News was taken seriously.

Those comments are amazing.

All but one, from Disgusted of Manchester of course, are having none of it.

I think it's an illustration of the lack of importance that people such as BC put on having to justify their point of view, never mind critical thinking. It's more a matter of presenting "the" acceptable thing to think, continuing to bulldoze any opposition and playing cancel-a-mole with those individuals that look to take it any further.

Reprehensible method that's been successful for a very long time but increasingly seems to have hit the buffers rather abruptly.

Ha ha ha. There's your arse, Ben

Very interesting update on this from Glinner on his substack

grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/another-pink-news-hit-piece-on-the?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cta

Ben seems to think that all the comments are coming from Mumsnetters!!

To clarify. It's a post of this thread.

Ha! Sorry, Ben, I don't have a Times account. Just rely on share tokens on here!

Just another typical example of the us/them, good/bad simple thinking going on. You and your argument aren't wrong, the only people criticising you are those meanies and we know they are just horrible people who history will judge as the next Nazis. It's idiotic and tiresome.

What an absolute idiot.

In which case Dial there's an awful lot of men on here

No this is just what happens when you cant block everyone.

Just goes to show how few of his followers actually give a crap about anything he has to say. I've said this before, there are far too many people in this world who will egg you on until you make a complete fool of yourself for their own entertainment. Perhaps it's time to re evaluate your relationships with your followers and friends as to who is really supportive in your life. As opposed to complaining that the public have an opinion that differs.

Ben seems to think that all the comments are coming from Mumsnetters!!

I wish I could be surprised by the lack of insight and reflection that is sometimes on display from commentators such as BC, but I'm not.

This is a distinct lack of any acknowledgement that democracy and plurality of voices have their downsides but in human history to date we haven't discovered anything better that allows peaceful coexistence.

I don't know enough about Andrew Doyle to have an opinion of some of his work but I have noted a few discussions in which he's said that he welcomes robust challenges because it compels him to defend his arguments and understand himself better. I'd like to see somebody like BC adopt that attitude.

The comments are exactly the same as on any other article on the topic. BC isn't special.

Skimming the comments now. Oh dear. Someone will be not happy...

Nice own goal there Benny Boy!

If everyone here has a Times account, we wouldn't need the share tokens that everyone pleads for, when ever there is a Times link, would we?

The thing is Ben, no one agrees with you.

This site has 12 million unique viewers per month. That's fairly representative.

Most feminists (not all), are lefty, most times readers aren't.

The only crossover, is that no one agrees. It's not political. It's just awful.

This is exactly the trouble with #nodebate.

Transactivists, which I consider Mr Cohen to be, have created silos around themselves and they have therefore not developed their case beyond "I want".

It doesn't work. Adults debate issues, toddlers and teens say "I want".

The reason the Times comments are so dire is not because of Mumsnet, but rather because the majority of people share the views of people on MN because people on MN are just people. Mainly female people, but, they are people too.

Some of us are quite smart, stick around, Ben, it's an interesting place.

Ben seems to think that all the comments are coming from Mumsnetters!!

That's hilarious.

The reason the Times comments are so dire is not because of Mumsnet, but rather because the majority of people share the views of people on MN because people on MN are just people. Mainly female people, but, they are people too

I often wonder why people who cannot deal with/struggle to cope with negative opinions and disagreements bother to write articles or post on twitter.

I do not condone any threats or violence. However you do need to take.some responsibility for your own health and well being. Something a bit more reliant on things you can control, such whether or not you write articles which allow comments/public input, or making statements that spark.discussion/debate.

No one owes anyone anything.

I wonder when Ben and his ilk came to the view that TWAW and that trans identity has to be accepted on the basis of pure self-id, and that any expression of the opposite opinion is almost inherently hateful.
20 years ago hardly anyone believed the stuff that Ben and SW say today, including very few people in Stonewall (which didn't even support same-sex marriage until late 2010) and very few LGB people.
So at what point did it become unacceptable to even have a debate about these things?
Ben's comparison between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK seems laughably flawed, since NI is behind the rest of the UK in gay rights. I don't think he is suggesting that NI is united behind trans self-ID, although if that had been the case then I think we might question some of the motives (like in Iran).

Ben Ben Ben, even your own PN commissioned YouGov poll at the time of the GRA consultation failed to find any support for sex self ID in the wider public.

Nobody agrees with me, therefore they must all be mumsnetters. That's hilarious 🤣🤣

Ben seems to think that all the comments are coming from Mumsnetters!!

Jesus, MN FWR really is powerful.

Alternatively, this is what happens when you live in a bubble Ben. This isn't a niche MN position, it's what most of the country think.

Alas, Ben has no insight so will continue to make himself look silly.