The BBC are a corrupt and institutionally transphobic organisation. We’ve known this for a while and I’ve covered multiple occasions demonstrating that exact fact. Including the not too distantly recent time they tried to use a cisgender sexual predator as evidence that trans women are “pressuring women into sex”. This event is no different as they attempt to turn Graham Linehan into a sympathetic character.

I’ve written about Graham Linehan a few times now documenting the harassment and abuse he has engaged in as part of his anti-trans campaigning. This has even included taking aim at cisgender women, the very women he claims to be doing this all for, such as Cariad Lloyd who left Twitter as a result of a pile on from transphobes after a quote reply from Graham Linehan. Lloyd’s crime was, as a comedian, to jokingly refer to people who menstruate as “bleeders” which I imagine sounds awful to non-British ears. However on our weird little isles “bleeders” is often a term of endearment used by parents to refer to children, usually their own. For example: “the little bleeders have kept me up all night again because they wouldn’t settle down”.

It’s also included straight up fear mongering and disinformation, with Linehan being one of the chief spreaders of the rumour that murderer Ian Huntley was transitioning in prison and requesting to be moved to a women’s facility. This lie was originally spread by a newspaper, but was picked up by transphobes very quickly, Linehan one of them. On an Irish podcast Linehan was pressed on the claim by the host to which he replied “Even if this isn’t true, the fact that it’s even possible if cause for concern”. Completely forgoing any sense of fair or democratic process, trans people are just guilty by association to whatever imagined shit transphobes can think up. Lock us up and throw away the key!

There is also Linehan’s previous outings on the BBC where he compared the healthcare of trans youth to the experiments confirmed on children in Nazi concentration camps. Appearing on Newsnight to decry the toxicity of the awful transgenders in the trans debate, he was pressed on these comments by the BBC host. Of course, he merely doubled down. He refused to acknowledge that his behaviour is toxic and that he can’t ask for less toxicity from others without being willing to make that step for himself.

Which leads me to Nolan Investigates, a podcast which has taken quite the problematic stance in the ongoing discussions of LGBTQIA+ equality. Its even taken aim at Stonewall, Europe’s largest LGBT charity with a multi-part podcast trying to suggest they are scary and bad for doing exactly what they’ve always said they do; lobby to improve things for LGBT people. They recently had Graham Linehan appear to talk about his life and honestly? I didn’t bother to watch it. I saw some of the clips of him crying and just thought you know what? No. I’m a big ol’ softie and I just do not need to feel bad that Graham Linehan has ruined his life today. Pass.

A narrative which the BBC didn’t go with by the way, they allowed Linehan the space to argue that trans people had ruined his life. That it was our fault he was in the position he was in and that eventually he would be vindicated because in his own words; “I’m right, I know I am”. He truly believes that, even if he is 100% correct about trans people, his life will ever return to what it once was. As if the only thing that has affected his current position is the fact people don’t see that he’s correct yet, rather than people having assessed his behaviours and saw them to be abusive irrespective of their personal beliefs on transgender people.

Further Linehan accuses trans people of having taken away his family. Though this isn’t the first time we’ve heard this story, since he also told it to the House of Lords not too long ago. A framing which to me just comes across as incredibly misogynist and I’m astounded that the so-called “gender critical feminists” haven’t spoken up more to condemn that perspective. Linehan’s ex-wife is a grown woman who is capable of having made her own decisions, just as much as Linehan is a grown man who is capable of and responsible for having made his own decisions too. No one took his family, his family left and only they can tell you why. Though it doesn’t look like any one has bothered to reach out to the woman of the relationship to ask her, weirdly.

The BBC piece has already been re-published to the Daily Mail, further doubling down on the laundering of Linehan’s reputation. The narrative is that its all trans people’s fault and that you should be scared of trans people coming to get you too. Just more fearmongering against the people we don’t like and more evangelising of the people we do like. Yet another tiring day for transgender people.

I don’t really have a conclusion, I just wanted to write this because this stuff needs to be documented and put into context. Eventually we’ll be through this moral panic and it’ll be important to know what happened, when, what the relevant information is and all that jazz. I guess uhh, fuck transphobia don’t ruin your life over bigotry if you can help it?