Graham Linehan interview in The Times (17 March 2023)

[IwantToRetire]

From both ends of the trans debate, I am told his interventions are “counterproductive”, “a net bad” and “unhinged”. Some gender-critical women — that is, women who agree with him — believe he craves attention, martyrdom and leadership of a movement whose fight is not even his. One mentions that he was once pro-porn and sex work, which he admits to being before “talking to feminists” changed his mind. Over on the other side of the battle lines, an activist dismisses him as a fringe character full of hot air. None of these people is prepared, however, to go on the record, mostly saying they fear he will retaliate in his customary style.

There is one admirable exception. She is Kathleen Stock, the radical feminist philosopher who resigned from the University of Sussex in 2021 after a campaign by “queer, trans and non-binary” students who wanted her fired. “Graham and I have clashed in the past,” she says, “and we probably aren’t each other’s favourite people. But I think it’s fair to say he’s genuinely committed to fighting what he believes is a woman-harming and child-harming ideology (and I agree with him on that); and he talks to some demographics — particularly ordinary blokes, who don’t really care so much about niceties of language and aren’t put off by his sometimes bludgeoning style — that others don’t necessarily reach.”

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/broke-shunned-and-cancelled-father-ted-creator-graham-linehan-and-the-trans-debate-cgv8gqpjk

Sorry no share token

(If you paste the Times link above into archive.ph/ it has been archived)

It is absolutely symptomatic of the hypocrisy of these people that they are happy with a musical celebrating a man who sexually abused children, but not with collaborating with a man who speaks out about the sexual abuse of children.

The Andrew Billen article speaks a lot about Linehan's use of intemperate language in this debate. And there are two points to make about that. One is that the language he uses is as nothing to the language coming from the other side - the endless vicious threats of rape, murder and so on. Linehan, for example, has never called for his opponents to be decapitated.

The other is that the extremity of the misogyny and homophobia of trans ideology arguably means that intemperate language is required. Are we really supposed to be polite about people with extremist views?

I admire Graham so much. Everything he is quoted as saying in that article is so thoughtful and true. It amazes me that a journalist can write about someone who has had all their comedy work cancelled and been endlessly hounded and bullied and say that people question their mental health and whether they are obsessed. It is a miracle that Graham is still standing strong after everything that has been thrown at him. I think a lot of others do not speak up because they know the backlash would break them.

There are certainly a few people on the other side of this debate who are obsessed. Anyone who thinks their young son is a girl for starters.

It was cancelled from all 4 but still on there. Hilarious and perceptive.

It's the best one! The elders of the internet one. I bought the DVD second hand so I would have it even if it got cancelled on all the streaming services.

I don't myself agree with everything Glinner has done and said, but he's a brave and principled man who didn't deserve to be treated like he has been by his peers. I think in time he will be vindicated.

DP and I are currently rewatching all of Father Ted. So good, he's such a talented comic writer.

Quite @RoyalCorgi wete up against people who go around with signs saying “decapitate TERFS”, who have hounded ppl out of their jobs, who have sent vile rape & death threats online and in person, who regularly indulge in spurious legal cases because the process is the punishment and who posted happy dancing skeletons when a young woman in her 30s died of brain cancer - and we should watch our language???

fuck right off

I think he is a talented man.

I don't agree with him on everything.

I believe his daughter will think very highly of him when she is older.

Same here - I read it earlier and thought it came across as incredibly sneery in tone and in places quite ill informed!

I personally think that how he expresses himself is fine - I would not have his courage and humour. When people accuse him of being vicious, I personally see someone with an eye for the ridiculous getting to the empty heart of this nonsense. It's just that it's so exposing, they can't bear it.

called someone a “pronoun wanker”

I hope he used the Inbetweeners GIF

Love Glinner, love his work, glad his crowd fund got a mention. I think there'd be a massive audience for a Father Ted musical, well....I'd go see it. I wonder if Mulville was seeing problems getting the thing as far as being staged. I could foresee everyone from the venue to the caterers being targeted by the tras.

I was fine with Doc Stock's comments, I read them as generally supportive. The last sentence about the minefield, what are you supposed to do with unexploded bombs? You can't just leave them there.

I can't see the comments (thank you for the share token) are they allowing any and, if so, what's the consensus?

When people accuse him of being vicious, I personally see someone with an eye for the ridiculous getting to the empty heart of this nonsense. It's just that it's so exposing, they can't bear it.

In terms of how he expresses himself and his humour, I fully agree.

@IcakethereforeIam I can't see the comments (thank you for the share token) are they allowing any and, if so, what's the consensus?

I’d say about 95% of the comments are on Graham’s side

I think sometimes balancing out both sides in an article like this is good. People who don't know much about what Graham has said might have a vague idea that he said something really awful then they read this and think, well I agree with him and when there is some sneeriness, they see it for what it is.

It’s an ‘interesting’ article. I have much sympathy for Graham Linehan.

But I seriously thought the author of the piece sounded biased against him.

Do others not see that? What am I missing?

Well another big article in the Times for Glinner.

So much for being cancelled. He really still don't get it.

If he was able to provide relevant content to today's viewers, he would be getting the assignments. Content selling fear.....yeah not great. I wouldn't touch it either.

Still, he is an entertaining character, that is for sure. Perhaps just needs a new hobby!

Lol mishy I do admire your tenacity

glinners career and life has been wrecked whilst the most marginalised of allll time ever have literally had the Bank of England lit uk in support of themand succeeded In forcing their male bodies into everything designed to be women only - refuges, prisons, women’s sport even groups for mothers who are breastfeeding

so very very marginalised & oppressed….

This is absolutely it. Glinner relentlessly takes the piss out of these ridiculous people, and they can't stand it. I do think there is still a view amongst some GC people that we should always be respectful in debate - and Glinner refuses to toe that particular line.

Content selling fear

Count Arthur Strong?

He's a principled man, we need more like him to stand up and be allies.

One woman wears a T-shirt with the slogan “Woman = adult human female”, a common riposte by “gender-critical” lesbians to trans women who insist they are indeed women (although legally, of course, they can be).

Where to start? I have an AHF T shirt and an married to a man. He has a penis and everything. I don't think I'm a lesbian.

As for repeating the legal fiction that Transwomen are women...

Rather than the audience, I expect the difficulty for Father Ted: The Musical is that young, musical theatre actors are the most pro-trans and super-woke demographic out there!

So putting on the production and not having it disrupted could well be difficult.

I really like Glinner too and can’t understand why his whole life has been destroyed.

He just speaks sense as far as I’m concerned and takes the piss out of the gender numpties.

I feel very sorry for him

Glinner is still paying the price for being one of the first to speak out and it sucks. It’s not like he’s especially vicious or anything, he was just willing to say what no one else at that time with a public profile was saying (no, “trans women” aren’t women.)

I think without him we’d have self-ID; he played a critical part in raising awareness back in the days when it was all about filling in consultation responses.

I really hope he is publicly vindicated.

Aren't there something like 90% of actors resting?

The article reads as if Andrew Billen is terrified of saying one positive thing about Graham Linehan. Reading Twitter under Elon Musk's ownership, though, it does seem like there are a lot of people, many men, now openingly taking the piss out of gender ideology without repercussions. I hope Graham Linehan can keep on keeping on until he can start making decent money again.

I hadn’t realised he did count Arthur Strong too. I don’t love the way he interacts here, but I do love his writing and think he is a strongly principled man