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Reluctant though I am to give any air-time to transphobia, Bevan Shields’ profile of Suzanne Moore (you couldn’t really call it an interview) for Fairfax is so exasperating and full of holes that it needs to be addressed.
Firstly, this has become a pretty standard way to dismiss people who object to transphobia: to cherry-pick the worst attacks (and to be clear, death-threats are unacceptable) and depict them as representative of the whole:
It’s telling that intolerance, to people like Moore or Shields, only ever works one way: people telling them that their views are objectionable are intolerant. But when Moore or Shields air those views, knowing full well the hurt they’ll cause, it’s merely “debate”.
Moore really shows her hand here: this is very clearly saying that she doesn’t regard trans women as female. Shields doesn’t challenge her on this.
Again, the lone journalist airing hurtful opinions is depicted as “diversity” and “debate”. 338 - 338!! - of her colleagues raising an objection isn’t.
It’s extremely telling that for Moore this is all some intellectual exercise of interest and concern only to journalists, & not something that causes real harm to some of the most marginalised people in society who don’t have access to mainstream media to make their voices heard.
It never fails to astonish me how people such as Moore espouse high-minded ideals about “interrogating all topics” - while *resolutely refusing for engage in any kind of introspection at all when they’re criticised*. The faith, it’s so bad.
It’s frankly disgusting that Moore tries to pass off opinions that would continue to marginalise and diminish trans people, who are already at the bottom of the pile, as mere human frailty. I’m no saint but I’m also not a bigot.
Again, we see this whole thing portrayed as some airy, ethereal debate about ideas, a mere intellectual exercise, rather than something with real life flesh-and-blood consequences for trans people’s lives and safety.
If supposedly left-wing media is being drawn into a debate about the basic human rights of trans people, *then the left has already lost*.
Again, trans people are some of the most marginalised, maligned people in our society. What good is done by any kind of journalism that would continue to visit harm on them? Frankly that’s a journalism we don’t need.
It’s absolutely jaw-dropping to me that both Moore and Shields apparently fail to see any connection between journalism which dehumanises trans people, & the violence to which trans people are victims. This alone indicates that as journalists, they’re not up to scratch.
This is the reality of high-profile people being supposedly “cancelled”: Moore in fact resigned from the Guardian after she was criticised by her colleagues, and has now received a completely uncritical profile in another media outlet, and publicity for her new venture.
The left is very very good at ignoring the bigotry within its own ranks. I’m sure that Moore, in her long career, has come up against sexism from people on the left on multiple occasions. Yet she’s incapable of seeing herself as part of that same general problem.
This article is an absolute embarrassment to everyone involved, but worst than that because once again trans people will be left bearing the true weight of having their lives opened up to debate.
FYI I’ll probably mute this thread soon because Wil Anderson just quote-tweeted it and though he was very nice about it he also has half a million followers and I don’t think I’m equipped to deal with that amount of attention 
So just a reminder, trans rights are human rights!
So just a reminder, trans rights are human rights!
