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The Guardian vs. transgender people

The Guardian is a British media organization. Their transgender coverage has been criticized for anti-trans bias.

Background

The Guardian published an anti-trans piece by Julie Bindel in 2004. Over the following years, the paper became increasingly anti-trans in its stance. A 2018 letter to the editor by anti-trans activist Kathleen Stock and others led to complaints and protests. In 2020, anti-trans contributor Suzanne Moore left following an incendiary piece attacking social constructionist views about sex. More than 200 politicians, journalists, and activists signed a letter denouncing the piece. Moore later said many other comments had been removed because of “denial of female biology.” In 2021, The Guardian censored a comment by Judith Butler:

The Terfs (trans exclusionary radical feminists) and the so-called gender critical writers have also rejected the important work in feminist philosophy of science showing how culture and nature interact (such as Karen Barad, Donna Haraway, EM Hammonds or Anne Fausto-Sterling) in favor of a regressive and spurious form of biological essentialism. So they will not be part of the coalition that seeks to fight the anti-gender movement. The anti-gender ideology is one of the dominant strains of fascism in our times. So the Terfs will not be part of the contemporary struggle against fascism, one that requires a coalition guided by struggles against racism, nationalism, xenophobia and carceral violence, one that is mindful of the high rates of femicide throughout the world, which include high rates of attacks on trans and genderqueer people.

The anti-gender movement circulates a spectre of “gender” as a force of destruction, but they never actually read any works in gender studies. Quick and fearful conclusions take the place of considered judgments. Yes, some work on gender is difficult and not everyone can read it, so we have to do better in reaching a broader public. As important as it is, however, to make complex concepts available to a popular audience, it is equally important to encourage intellectual inquiry as part of public life. Unfortunately, we are living in anti-intellectual times, and neo-fascism is becoming more normalized.

2018 open letter

In 2018 an open letter by critics of the Gender Recognition Act included many key anti-transgender extremists. They are reordered alphabetically by surname below.

  • Sophie Allen, Lecturer in Philosophy, Keele University
  • Rosalind Barber, English & Comparative Literature, Goldsmiths, University of London
  • Chetan Bhatt, Professor of Human Rights, Sociology, London School of Economics
  • Michael Biggs, Associate Professor in Sociology and Fellow of St Cross College, University of Oxford
  • Diane Brewster (Retired. ex University of Sussex and Open University)
  • Heather Brunskell-Evans, Academic, Writer and Political Commentator
  • Catherine Butler, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Bath
  • Richard Byng, Professor in Primary Care Research, University of Plymouth
  • Alex Byrne, Head of Linguistics and Philosophy Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • W Burlette Carter, Professor of Law Emeritus, The George Washington University Law School, Washington, DC
  • Jackie Cassell, Head of the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School
  • Clare Chambers, Reader in Philosophy, University of Cambridge
  • John Collins, Philosophy, University of East Anglia
  • Sophia Connell, Philosophy, Birkbeck College London
  • Stephen Cowden, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Coventry University
  • Rosie Dias, Associate Professor, History of Art, University of Warwick
  • Debbie Epstein, Professor of Cultural Studies in Education, School of Education, University of Roehampton, London
  • Rosa Freedman PhD, LLM, LLB, Professor of Law Conflict and Global Development, Director Global Development Division, Co-Director United Nations and Global Order Research Programme, University of Reading
  • John Gardner FBA, Professor of Law and Philosophy, All Souls College, Oxford
  • Richard Garside, Director, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Open University
  • Leslie Green, Philosophy of Law, Balliol College, Oxford
  • Liz Guy, School of Computing, Engineering & Mathematics, University of Brighton
  • Mike Hannis, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Humanities (Ethics and Sustainability), Bath Spa University
  • PM Higgins, Honorary Research Fellow, Royal Holloway University of London; former Professor of Music, University of Nottingham; former KĂ€the-Leichter Visiting Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Vienna
  • Emma Hilton, University of Manchester (honorary)
  • Sian Hindle, Senior Lecturer, School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University
  • Sheila Jeffreys, Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne
  • Robert Jensen, School of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin [emeritus]
  • Jane Clare Jones, independent scholar
  • Julia Jordan, Department of English Language and Literature, UCL
  • Holly Lawford-Smith, Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy, University of Melbourne
  • Mary Leng, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of York
  • H. Susana Marinho, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, University of Lisbon
  • Susan Matthews, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Department of English and Creative Writing, University of Roehampton
  • Ruth McGinity, Lecturer in Educational Leadership and Policy, Institue of Education, UCL
  • Laura McGrath, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of East London
  • Michele Moore, Patient Safety Academy, University of Oxford
  • Maureen O’Hara, Senior Lecturer in Law, Solicitor, Coventry University
  • Kathryn Oliver, Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • Jo Phoenix, Chair in Criminology, The Open University
  • David Pilgrim, Honorary Professor of Health and Social Policy, University of Liverpool
  • Eva Poen, Lecturer in Economics, University of Exeter
  • Rupert Read, Reader in Philosopher at UEA, and Chair of Green House
  • Kathleen Richardson, Professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI, Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, De Montfort University
  • Paul Sagar, Lecturer in Political Theory, Department of Political Economy, King’s College London
  • Sophie Scott, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL
  • Lesley Semmens, Senior Lecturer (retired), School of Computing, Leeds Beckett University
  • Holly Smith, UCL Institute of Education
  • Kathleen Stock, Philosophy, University of Sussex
  • Judith Suissa, UCL Institute of Education
  • Alice Sullivan, Sociology, University College London
  • Sian Sullivan, Centre for Environmental Humanities, Bath Spa University
  • Georgia Testa, Teaching Fellow, School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science, University of Leeds
  • Patrick Turner, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Bath Spa University
  • Jo Waugh, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, York St John University

References

Hurley, Lee (May 30, 2023). Exclusive: Guardian writers and editor set up group to make Guardian more transphobic. TransWrites https://transwrites.world/guardian-writers-and-editor-set-up-group-to-make-guardian-more-transphobic/

Tani, Max (April 3, 2023). Inside the Guardian’s civil war over trans coverage. Semafor https://www.semafor.com/article/04/02/2023/inside-the-guardians-civil-war-over-trans-coverage

Wareham, Jamie (Jun 11, 2022). The Guardian faces boycott from LGBTQIA+ journalists. QueerAF https://www.wearequeeraf.com/the-guardian-faces-boycott-from-lgbtqia-journalists/

Akrivos D (2022). Transgender reporting in the British press: editorial standards and discursive harms in the post-Leveson era. Journal of Media Law Volume 14, 2022 – Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1080/17577632.2022.2153216

Stone, Gemma (June 7, 2021). The Guardian is Transphobic. Medium https://medium.com/@notCursedE/the-guardian-is-transphobic-eebd0d5ea63a

Gleeson, Jules (September 7 2021 ). Judith Butler: ‘We need to rethink the category of woman.’ The Guardian https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/sep/07/judith-butler-interview-gender pre-censored version: archive

Higgins, Eoin (November 5, 2021). The Guardian Tries To Intimidate Me Into Retracting My Article About Transphobia in Their Newsroom. The Flashpoint https://eoinhiggins.substack.com/p/the-guardian-tries-to-intimidate

Higgins, Eoin (September 9, 2021). The Guardian’s Censoring of Judith Butler Part of a Pattern, Current and Former Staffers Say. The Flashpoint https://eoinhiggins.substack.com/p/the-guardians-censoring-of-judith

Higgins, Eoin (September 7, 2021). Guardian Pulls Judith Butler’s Comments On “Gender-Critical” Anti-Trans Movement. The Flashpoint https://eoinhiggins.substack.com/p/guardian-pulls-judith-butlers-comments

Kearns, Madeleine (January 3, 2022). The Guardian’s Trans Problem. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-guardians-trans-problem/

Tobitt, Charlotte (November 17, 2020). Suzanne Moore leaves Guardian months after staff send letter of revolt over ‘transphobic content.’ Press Gazette https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/suzanne-moore-leaves-guardian-months-after-staff-send-letter-of-revolt-over-transphobic-content/

Powys Maurice, Emma (March 3 2020). Yet another trans person dramatically quits The Guardian amid bitter transphobia row. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2020/03/03/the-guardian-another-trans-person-quits-transphobia-coverage-row/

Moore, Suzanne (November 25, 2020). Why I had to leave The Guardian. UnHerd. https://unherd.com/2020/11/why-i-had-to-leave-the-guardian/

Moore, Suzanne (March 2, 2020). Women must have the right to organise. We will not be silenced. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/commentisfree/2020/mar/02/women-must-have-the-right-to-organise-we-will-not-be-silenced

Editors (March 4, 2020). Letters: Differing perspectives on transgender rights. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/04/differing-perspectives-on-transgender-rights

Strudwick, Patrick (August 15, 2019). The Guardian Newspaper Has Lost Two Trans Employees Over Its Reporting On Trans Issues. Buzzfeed https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/two-transgender-employees-quit-guardian-transphobia

Sam Levin, Mona Chalabi and Sabrina Siddiqui (November 2, 2018). Why we take issue with the Guardian’s stance on trans rights in the UK. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/02/guardian-editorial-response-transgender-rights-uk

Gleeson, Jules Joanne (October 21, 2018). On The Guardian’s Transphobic Centrism. New Socialist https://newsocialist.org.uk/on-the-guardians-transphobic-centrism/

Open letter (October 16, 2018). Aademics are being harassed over their research into transgender issues. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/16/academics-are-being-harassed-over-their-research-into-transgender-issues

Moore, Suzanne (January 9, 2013). I don’t care if you were born a woman or became one. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/09/dont-care-if-born-woman

Bindel, Julie (January 30, 2004). Gender benders, beware. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jan/31/gender.weekend7

Resources

The Guardian (theguardian.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)