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Opinion
/
last word
from Julie Bindel
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In the last few weeks, I have been told (not necessarily in this order) tenets of the trans religion, is immediate attack and demonization,
that I am not a ‘real woman’; that I am masquerading as a lesbian often without mercy or letup… I call it a religion because it is all
and have been involved in a ‘fake’ relationship with my partner of painted in black and white, the powers of good vs. the powers of evil,
21 years; that it would be good if I ‘died a slow and agonising’ death no middle ground allowed, no neutral corners recognized.
of cancer’; that I have no right to call myself a feminist and, the
greatest insult of all, that I resemble Ricky Gervais! Some day, some of you will figure it is much more productive to start
a conversation than a war, but I’ve witnessed a lot of potential allies
Why? driven off in the past year by over dramatization, hyperbolic
accusations of transphobia and painting anyone who disagrees as
Many of you will be familiar with the controversy in which I have personally responsible for the next hate crime.”
been embroiled, along with Stonewall, during the past few
weeks. In January 2004 I wrote a column for The Guardian’s I couldn’t have put it better myself.
Weekend magazine entitled: Gender Benders Beware. It was
primarily about the case of Canadian male-to-female These trans folk who hate me for saying nasty things about
transsexual, Kimberly Nixon, who had taken a rape crisis centre them in the past seem quite happy to pour bile and hatred on
to court over its decision not to invite her to be a counsellor for those with whom they disagree. For example, see what you
rape victims. As a result of the cost of legal action, the centre think of these direct quotes from my opponents…
almost folded. I was angry that Nixon decided to risk the future
of such an important service for rape victims. “What would Stonewall’s reaction have been had a BME group
The article caused uproar amongst some sections of the nominated Ayatollah Khomeini as Politician of the Year?”
transsexual community. Penance was paid. The paper apologised.
98
I apologised publicly three times and I have attempted to enter “Would Stonewall accept Ernst Rohm for nomination in a new
into a dialogue with members of the trans community. The Historical Figure category?”
majority believe that I should be punished eternally, whereas
other, more reasonable, trans people have engaged with me but “She is a worthless piece of shit. Fuck Julie Bindel.”
have been berated by the baying mass for doing so.
Anyway, I was nominated for the Stonewall ‘Journalist of the As a result of this outcry, I have absolutely no intention of ever
Year’ award. Because Stonewall refuse to add the T on to LGB, trying to connect with those trans people again and will not be
many trans folk hate Stonewall almost as much as they do me. apologising for a fourth time. They only have themselves to
The lobby began immediately, with petitions, letter writing blame. The good news? I have made a few friends who are trans,
campaigns and a demo outside the awards. Bloggers went but who do not believe in lifelong punishment for a ‘crime’
berserk on the topic. Just look on Facebook if you want to see committed almost five years ago. They believe in redemption.
how nasty it became.
Not everyone in the community thought that such vicious
bullying was OK though. On one public message board, a woman Julie Bindel is a freelance journalist and feminist activist.
who was sick and tired of being bullied and berated (as were She writes regularly for The Guardian.
others) for supporting my right to freedom of speech said this: To read Julie’s comprehensive statement on the current controversy
regarding her comments, visit her Facebook page at
“Rather than opening a dialogue, the immediate response to http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=34046747524&topic=5074
anyone, anywhere, in any public forum who questions the basic
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