Radio 4 right now 5.50pm

[ClaudiusTheGod]

Another trans story. Evan Davis interviewing a FtM who went through the Tavistock.

So would Evan date Alex and if not why not?
Such an obvious question…

Come on Evan - Alex has just said he identifies as a man, not a trans man. So would you date him?

Thanks, just switched on.

The dad saying that there's no point in arguing because the kid knows best. I wonder how many other aspects of parenting they'd apply that logic to. Going to school? Staying out all night? Getting a big spiders web tattooed across your face?

Why are they doing this extended advert for the (discredited) Tavistock? What's the reason?

It’s infuriating.

“I think trans is a spectrum” - what does this even mean?

This seems like PR for this ideology.

who's pulling the strings and pushing this biased content?

Evan audibly relieved that Alex is attracted to women so Evan is off the hook. He actually laughed with relief

Snap WinterTrees!

I like Evan but on this topic he is a total let down

nothing to see here....

they didn't ask about whether 'alex' could have children

I hate to be a conspiracy theorist but... why are so many institutions, including the BBC, so, so invested in this nonsensical ideology?

You cannot change sex, it is immutable.

Play with gender as much as you like but you can't change sex!!

You are probably a butch dyke, lesbian, that is lovely.
And then you could enjoy your beautiful woman's body in all its glory!

No challenging of the ideology at all. Transitioning was all sweetness and light for Alex; no regrets and supportive parents. The father even said there should be no debate around the subject because if someone is trans, they should be supported in their transition and should be able to live their life as they want (regardless of whether that impacts anyone else’s life, it seems). Much praise for the Tavistock.

I noticed that, but turned off when he started asking Alex about girlfriends.

The dad saying that there's no point in arguing because the kid knows best.

Someone should introduce the dad to Keira Bell.

Evan is a committed TRA, no surprises here. But I suppose we do have to reckon with the fact that some Tavistock patients are pleased with the outcome of their treatment.

Alex went through their Tavistock-assisted transition when they were 16 and they're now 25, so that means it was about 9 years ago. That was a few years before ROGD caught on and drove the numbers of girls transitioning stratospheric.

It is frustrating when discussion completely skates over the fact that things changed hugely round about 2015. Mixing together statistics and experiences from pre- and post- is often misleading.

Alex said that Alex identifies as a man rather than a trans man apparently. Apparently they forget they are trans sometimes and just get on with life as a man, etc. Of course Evan Davis did not ask what that really meant, or in what way they thought life is so different now from any other mid-20s woman’s. Or man’s. GRC wasn’t discussed which could have been an interesting topic.

Davis also didn’t ask anything about physical symptoms after any medical or surgical transition. He didn’t ask what physical interventions Alex had. So Alex saying that everything has been really great since their transition at 14 years old doesn’t mean anything at all. Obviously it’s lovely they are happy but that kind of skating over things could really mislead or upset someone who has had a very different experience.

Yet another elephant in the room was around passing- Alex’s voice instantly reveals that Alex is transgender, but Davis didn’t cover that topic. But actually that must be a huge issue for trans people- different issues will arise whether you pass as your preferred identity, or you don’t. But presumably it was forbidden territory. or maybe Davis wasn’t wanting to ask anything challenging.
It just felt like a half baked puff piece profile like you might find with a very sensitive celebrity, it really wasn’t journalism.

One in 50 of the BBC workforce are trans, and 11.5 per cent of BBC bosses and 10.6 per cent of staff are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual.

It is the creative media, and obviously the best person should always get the job BUT does this massive over representation effect impartiality? There's some ethical independent people at the BEEB , but equally some rampant TRAs.

Institutional capture by gender identity politics is extremely widespread and not a BBC issue. It’s a national issue in major institutions in most developed countries.

I dont understand what point your statistics re BBC employees are making here- LGB and T experiences and politics can be very different. That will be the same in the BBC as anywhere else.

Evan Davis seems like a fairly credulous and by extension misogynistic man but that’s as far as I’d go on the basis of this interview.

Really fed up with the uncritical fawning attitude of the PM programme to this issue. Evan Davies has been hopeless. There doesn't even seem to be a pretence at balance - it's just lapping up the nonsense that the trans advocates want to peddle.

This interview was so positive as to be unrealistic. Everything is fantastic, there are no downsides to transitioning, Alex has never had a problem getting a (heterosexual?!) girlfriend; only a naive kid would not be skeptical of this narrative. Happily, kids don't tend to listen to radio 4! I assume adult listeners will be more questioning of what they have heard.

All that said, it would be an interesting interview if it formed part of a series. 25 is no age, and I'd be interested to hear how Alex's experiences and opinions change at 30, 35, 40, etc.

Evan Davis is completely on the side of the TRA.

Davis is awful on trans issues. Stonewall will no doubt approve of his “acceptance without exception” stance. He really needs to be a bit more questioning, what with him being a journalist.

Davis loses all his journalistic integrity when covering trans issues, a shame as I really like him when covering everything else, but he applies zero critical thinking.