Val McDermid

[ChristinaXYZ]

This message on X/Twitter seesm to be supporting those who want to out the anonymous members of SEEN in Publishing and further it seems to support the blacklisting of those authors/agents etc.

Can you have blacklists in the UK? Is this legal?

x.com/valmcdermid/status/1807884013345890762

What a disappointment she is. Coming out for McCarthyism isn't the win she seems to think it is. Makes me feel a bit sick tbh.

Just to add that hse clear supports those who are pushing back against SEEN in Publishing, which is her right of course, free country and free speech and all that. It does make the balcklisting comments more isnister in that context - she clear intends it for women and men who disagree with her.

For an author to call for the blacklisting of a group that mainly includes other women - to advocate denying them the right to work to support themselves and their families, to deny their art a place in the world and to deny us the chance to read that art - because of different opinion?

And again I wonder if it is legal?

I know what you mean.

This is insidious. She's best pals with the 'Real Feminist' NS, so this stance is not unexpected.

One of the endless surprises about social media for me is not that people turn out to be nasty, but that they don't mind people knowing they're nasty. In her position, I'd at least pretend to care about free speech, protecting women's rights to freely express their opinion and to organise around their beliefs.

To say publicly that you endorse McCarthyist blacklisting of writers who disagree with you and, for the most part, are much less wealthy and successful than you are, is not a good look.

I guess if you really believed you were dealing with Nazi's then wishing them horrible deaths would seem apposite.(never mind extending common decency) In all this I am reminded of the quote from Oscar Wilde-"Reading history one is horrified not so much by the crimes of the wicked so much as the punishments of the just" . These whingy little fuckers really get off on parading their virtue. Still it does have the dubious benefit of showing people for who they really are.

I am not on X/twitter so I don't know the context of this particular tweet but is she not being ironic?

Poking fun at the idea of blacklisting someone whose identity is unknown?

No, her meaning is perfectly clear.

VALS ALWAYS BEEN SUPPROTIVE O TRANSWOMEN SHE EVEN MADE ONE A HERO O THE MERMAIDS SINGING

I know her stance, but that does read like sarcasm. Wonder if she’ll respond to any of the comments.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2010/9780111491041

You can't blacklist someone for their beliefs.

I'm not on Twitter X so not sure of full context of this, is it that she's encouraging blacklisting or has she already done it?

She’s a pain in the neck and a Best Pal of the Real Feminist™️ Nicola Sturgeon, but I thought she was being witty about blacklisting anonymous people

All these women chanting TWAW - do they ever sit and think ‘so I can BE a man then!’ And realise how stupid they are being?

I mean, you can’t actually blacklist someone who is anonymous, can you?

I thought she was being sarcastic at first but reading the whole context she's serious. What is happening in the arts makes me sick to my stomach.

VM is another high profile lesbian in a long term stable relationship (see also Nancy Kelly, Ruth hunt) happy to whang women under the bus knowing that that TWAW won’t impact on their cosy bourgeoisie lives

Maybe she is being sarcastic. It's not really possible to blacklist anonymous people.

And VM has talked against authoritarian moves in the recent past.

'<a class="break-all" href="https://archive.ph/o/t1078/www.thecourier.co.uk/tag/kirkcaldy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kirkcaldy-born McDermid, who has sold more than 20 million books, said: “I’m obviously concerned about freedom of speech.
“Satire can be a very powerful weapon if all else fails.
“And I frequently have characters in my books who say things that are not my view.
“It’s essential to allow them to express their views, otherwise you end up with a completely anodyne story.
“And while I don’t think <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.ph/o/t1078/www.scotland.police.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Police Scotland will make it a priority to investigate a sick joke told by a comedian at the Edinburgh Festival, they are obliged to investigate complaints.”
‘A huge waste of time for police’
The 68-year-old, best known for her <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.ph/o/t1078/www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/fife/3728764/karen-pirie-behind-the-scenes-of-new-val-mcdermid-crime-drama-filmed-in-st-andrews/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Karen Pirie and Wire In The Blood series, predicts many people will take the new hate crime law “to the extreme”.
“It seems to me that people are, of course, looking at the ultimate ridiculous conclusion and will push it to see what happens,” she said.
“It’s going to be used as a stick to beat people with.
“It will be a huge waste of time for the police as they look into vexatious complaints.
“I’m sure one or two people have complained about me from time to time.
“They’ll end up with people doing it deliberately to cause trouble rather than dealing with hate speech and hate crime, which is a real thing.”'

www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/fife/4929092/val-mcdermid-hate-crime/

I cannot comment on the actual book because I haven't read it , but as a matter of principle , are you seriously suggesting that a transwoman can never be portrayed in a positive light?

I haven't read that book because I was warned that there is stomach churning violence in it.

I thoroughly recommend Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Doors of Eden, which has a very funny and engaging trans woman character.

The Doors of Eden

Thank you for the recommendation.
I shall check that out.

Adrian Tchaikovsky is appearing at the Edinburgh Book Festival but I'm probably boycotting it because of the craven , weak - willed decision by the festival directors to drop Baillie Gifford as sponsor.

It was idiotic. The Official Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe have refused to give in.

I bow to your higher principles.
I went to the Hay Festival.

The TW is a serial killer of men. Unless you approve of the torture and murder of men I wouldn't exactly use the word hero.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mermaids_Singing

THEY NIVER FOUND ONYYTHING ON ME EVEN WHEN THEY DUG UP THE GAIRDEN