The former comedy writer turned keyboard warrior has had a gig cancelled prompting a write-up where the BBC attempt to launder reputation of horrific bigot, Graham Linehan.
Right, let’s get this over with; I don’t want to write about him – you don’t want to hear about him. But the BBC are our state broadcaster and it once again needs pointing out how extremely different their “impartiality” is when applied to trans people vs transphobes.
For example, the BBC have defended to the hilt the piece in which they, essentially, collected some Twitter gossip from a hate-group of less than 100 people and used that to smear trans women as rapists in the national media. Yet somehow “man who spends nearly 24/7 harrassing trans people” is ever-so-kindly referred to as just having “gender views”.
“Father Ted writer Graham Linehan comedy show cancelled over gender views” reads the headline in the BBC attempt to launder reputation. The piece makes absolutely no mention of the horrific behaviours and statements Graham Linehan has engaged in. Some of which happened on BBC productions, no less!
Other statements made by Graham Linehan include but are not limited to literally what was written on the banners of the sieg heiling Nazis who showed up to support Posie Parker’s rally in Victoria, Australia earlier this year.
His tweet reads “it is a paedophilic movement, it must be destroyed” whereas the Nazi signs read “destroy paedo freaks”. He has also made other comments asserting “almost every central trans figure is a nonce” and that the trans flag uses baby pink and blue because of paedophilia.
Graham Linehan's followers:
"Graham doesn't use "groomers" in the paedophilic sense."
Graham Linehan:
"Almost every central trans figure is a nonce."
"It's a paedophilic movement, it must be destroyed."
"Can't wait until this shitty, perverted, paedophilic movement is dead." pic.twitter.com/7G0vdT9sNP— Aidan Comerford (@AidanCTweets) August 11, 2023
The article where the BBC attempt to launder reputation alludes to Graham Linehan having been banned from social media. But doesn’t explain that it was likely due to behaviour such as accusing people of being groomers or spam tweeting a bunch of trans women to call them men.
His behaviour on the platform since being unsuspended under Elon Musk, who has seriously reduced protection for trans people on the platform, has not improved. With recent anti-trans harassment including tweeting at Kris Tyson on her coming out post in order to make fun of her simply for being transgender.
Hilariously the piece also ends by mentioning BBC’s Stephen Nolan’s platforming of Linehan. Nolan is currently undergoing his own investigation for inappropriate sexual behaviour in the work place.
This isnt the first BBC attempt to launder reputation for anti-trans activists we’ve seen either. I’ve lost track of how many times the BBC has allowed them to frame themselves as “women’s groups”. Even the use of terms like “gender critical” is, in my view, pandering to anti-trans activists by allowing them to rebrand transphobia as but a mere opinion.
Trans people are given no such courtesy or care and attention to impartiality. Brianna Ghey was murdered in February, the BBC article originally didnt include that she was transgender at all.
Personally I don’t think its newsworthy at all that some dick head has been barred from performing a comedy gig for the aforementioned dickheadery. Just as it isn’t news when someone gets kicked out of a pub for being too drunk or that someone’s mates have stopped hanging out with them. The only reason to make it a story at all is to farm the moral panic against trans people.
It is completely pathetic to think that in a world where multiple actual crisises are happening at the global, national and even local levels – that we would have a single solitary fuck to give about some bell end not being able to get a gig because he’s a bell end.
But if we are going to cover things like Graham Linehan’s comedy career in the state owned media; we could do without such a brazen attempt to launder reputation for him.
Do your jobs, report on what has happened. You’re journalists not a PR firm, you fraudulent pricks.
