The 28th Oxford Literary Festival will feature miserable bigots Helen Joyce and Julie Bindel whinging about trans people in an already sold out event. This has obviously attracted criticism as normal people call for attendees and participants to boycott the festival.
Two talks under the LGBTQ tag on Oxford Literary Festival have attracted widespread condemnation due to being held by anti-trans campaigners Julie Bindel and Helen Joyce, with Joyce being a straight cisgender woman and in no way LGBTQ. Previous years for Oxford Literary Festival have included a talk by Sharron Davies spreading anti-trans propaganda about the unfairness of leaving trans athletes alone and not being weird about them.
Both talks by anti-trans campaigners should never have happened but the downright slap in the face to allow anti-trans propaganda from a straight cisgender woman to be one of the main LGBTQ events being held is something else. Helen Joyce in particular has proudly taken photos with a cut up Progress Pride flag specifically because of its inclusion of people not fully represented by L, G or B. (That’s the TQ in your tag, OLF.)
The page advertising her event doesn’t include this information however it does fawn over how she supposedly believes in safety and dignity for trans people. Something which is very highly debated by the people we’re talking about; trans people. She has outright stated that she believes “every trans person is a huge problem for a sane world” and aims to implement policy and standards which seek to reduce the number of us that exist.
The worst way to interpret this is just straight up genocidal thinking but even giving her the maximum benefit of the doubt possible its still eugenics. Neither are good.
Oxford Literary Festival, in partnership with The Telegraph couldn’t cancel her event even if they wanted to which I almost guarantee they do not. Transphobes like Joyce and Bindel are extremely litigious and have engaged in attempting to silence their critics via litigation on numerous occasions. I have no doubt they would sue and wouldn’t be surprised if they already had the solicitors on speed dial waiting for it.
However criticism from attendees and participants along with some of those participants having pulled out of the festival entirely has seemed to affect Oxford Literary Festival. The results of which are currently one new talk being held by a well-meaning cisgender person about how easy it is to not be weird about trans people and to just leave us alone. But even this talk is mired in the same horrible bigotry as the rest of the festival.
That’s because the talk is being introduced by Gary Francione who has penned such banger tweets as comparing trans people wanting easier and less obstructive legal recognition by the state to Catholic transubstantiation; the idea that bread and wine are literally Jesus’ body and blood. Bemoaning “trans gender ideology” – an obvious bigoted dogwhistle and calling trans guys “biological females” in opposition to their equality.
The Oxford Literary Festival does not feature a single openly trans writer; just bigots and one trans inclusive cis guy “for balance”. If that’s the case then it shouldn’t feature anyone at all and writers and attendess should join names like Harry R McCarthy, Ian Betteridge, Peter McCullough, Joanne Harris, Emma Burnett, Noreen Masud, Cllr Dr Alex Powell, Robert Chapman, Rebecca Menmuir, AJ West, Hesse Phillips, Peter Fullagar, and countless others who have cancelled their events, tickets or are otherwise calling for a boycott of OLF.
There is no debate with bigotry where marginalised people can win. Debating and tolerating bigotry only serves to enrich the bigot while exhausting the rest of us. Do not participate in Oxford Literary Festival and encourage everyone you know to steer well clear of it too.