News you need, the perspective you won’t find anywhere else. The trans community’s guide to UK news, media and politics and our place in it.
The Trans Agenda
[9 February 2025]
Follow me on Bluesky – @HLeeHurley.substack.com
UK & IRELAND NEWS
Northern Ireland Justice Minister clarifies her reasons for backing puberty blocker ban [Exclusive]
On Friday morning, I had a meeting with the NI Justice Minister, Naomi Long, regarding why she had joined the rest of the Northern Ireland Executive in backing a ban on puberty blockers for trans kids. It lasted for 90 minutes and I will be writing it up in detail in the next day or two. My plan had been to include it with this edition of the Trans Agenda, but, alas, I was assaulted by my inability to read ingredients properly and was ill for 48 hours (I’m mostly better now).
In short, Long was very clear that she did not back the ban because of the Cass Report, of which she was critical, but because of the ‘prescribing environment’. Although she did not name them directly, it was clear she was referring to Gender GP. This came after the Chief Medical Officer’s advice, which the Executive said wasn’t in the public interest to be released, was finally released thanks to an FOI, just a few days before the meeting.
His advice was based on Cass.I can confirm that there was no vote taken in the Executive on the issue which was passed by consensus. The Unionist parties had a great time.
Make sure you are subscribed to the Trans Agenda so you don’t miss this exclusive on my meeting with Long.
Wes Streeting lies that the word ‘woman’ has been erased from the NHS [The S*n]
Writing in The S*n, Christian Concern-back ideologue, Wes Streeting repeated yet more anti-trans lies. He wrote, “How is it that the value of equality became so distorted, that the NHS was funding a member of staff who described their practice as ‘anti-whiteness’? How is that, in the name of inclusion, the word ‘woman’ has been erased from NHS documents?…But the NHS has got to stop doing daft nonsense. It is going through the worst crisis in its history. It can’t afford to be distracted by ideologues.
“I’ve told the NHS to get back to basics.
“I say this as a gay man from a working class family.”
The word ‘woman’ has not been erased from the NHS and Streeting, as Health Minister, is either so incompetent he hasn’t noticed or is lying. There are no other options here.
Cass Review quietly revised to endorse conversion therapy and stricter gatekeeping [Not Ashley]
The Cass Review was quietly amended in December 2024, just before the permanent puberty blocker ban came into effect. The changes removed support for informed consent, pushed “alternative” treatments, and effectively endorsed conversion therapy. This shift handily aligns with Keira Bell’s new lawsuit, appearing to revive legal challenges to trans healthcare despite Bell v Tavistock being overturned.
DUP minister meets library chiefs over transgender book complaints [Belfast Telegraph]
DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons met with Libraries NI leaders after complaints about transgender-themed children’s books from bigots who likely form a large part of Lyons’ voter base. Lyons stressed libraries should be spaces where parents feel assured about age-appropriate content, while Jim O’Hagan and Bonnie Anley of Libraries NI defended their obligation to reflect community diversity.
The confected controversy, first raised a year ago by anti-trans TUV MP Jim Allister and DUP’s Carla Lockhart, reignited as they demanded book removals. Lyons urged concerned parents to use existing complaint procedures.
Allister criticised titles like Introducing Teddy and 10,000 Dresses, which you know he hasn’t read, claiming they promote ‘gender ideology’ (yawn), while Sinn Féin’s Colm Gildernew condemned his remarks as an attack on LGBTQ+ children.
It should be noted that Sinn Fein, while supporting the use of puberty blockers in the south of Ireland, helped ensure they were banned in the north.
Bayswater Support Group leaks expose pro-conversion therapy stance [Trans Safety Network]
Leaked messages from the Bayswater Support Group, revealed by Trans Safety Network, confirm the group promotes gender identity conversion practices against trans children. This follows Health Secretary Wes Streeting meeting with the group, despite evidence of coercive tactics, including restricting trans children’s access to rape counselling.
AROUND THE WORLD
USA: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children erases trans kids [The Advocate]
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) has purged all references to trans and LGBTQ+ youth from its website and public materials after threats from the Department of Justice to revoke federal funding. The move follows Trump’s executive order eliminating federal recognition of trans people, which has led to sweeping erasures across government resources.
USA: Anti-trans group admits bathroom predator myth was invented [Pink News]
Anti-LGBT hate group MassResistance has acknowledged that the “bathroom predator” argument—used to oppose trans rights—was a manufactured scare tactic. In an internal analysis of their failed campaign to repeal Massachusetts’ transgender non-discrimination law, the group admitted their side “concocted” the argument to avoid debating LGBT+ civil rights while inflaming public emotions.
USA: Protests erupt across US as hospitals comply with Trump’s under-19 trans ban [Erin in the Morning]
Demonstrations have swept the country after major hospitals began complying with Donald Trump’s executive order banning gender-affirming care for under-19s.
USA: State Department erases transgender travellers from safety guidelines[Erin in the Morning]
The Trump administration has quietly altered the State Department’s travel safety website, replacing “LGBTQI+ travelers” with “LGB travelers”, stripping all references to transgender and queer people. This change follows a government-wide purge of transgender recognition, affecting agencies like the CDC, Bureau of Prisons, USAID, and the Census Bureau.
USA: Nancy Mace unleashes anti-trans slurs in Congress, faces no consequences [Erin in the Morning]
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) launched an anti-trans tirade during a House Oversight Committee hearing, repeatedly shouting a transphobic slur while attacking USAID funding for gender-affirming care in Guatemala. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) objected, calling for decorum, but Mace escalated, sneering, “Trnny, trnny, tr**nny! I don’t really care.”
SPORT
NCAA bans 0.0017% of athletes to please Donald Trump
The NCAA moved quickly to confirm that they would follow Donald Trump’s command to ban trans women from sport across their teams. They currently represent around 530,000 athletes. President Charlie Baker recently admitted that, of that number across 19,000 teams, “under 10” are trans. Not just trans women, all trans people. That’s 0.0017% if you take the upper limit of nine.
MEDIA
Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón faces backlash over racist posts [Guardian]
Karla Sofía Gascón will not attend the Goya awards following the fallout from resurfaced racist and Islamophobic social media posts. The Emilia Pérez star, the first trans woman nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, has been dropped by her publisher and removed from the film’s promotional campaign by Netflix. Director Jacques Audiard called her comments “absolutely hateful,” while co-star Zoe Saldaña expressed her disappointment.
S*n paywall [Guardian]
S*n readers will have to pay £2 a month to access columns by writers including Jeremy Clarkson, content such as the agony aunt Dear Deidre and some exclusive stories and investigations, as the they launch a paid-for content strategy.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Labour reaffirms commitment to ECHR despite Tory pressure [Mail]
Labour has reiterated its unwavering support for the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), with European affairs minister Nick Thomas-Symonds criticising Conservative attempts to undermine its authority. Speaking in Brussels, Thomas-Symonds condemned the Tories’ approach, particularly their pursuit of the controversial Rwanda deportation scheme, arguing that the UK’s relationship with Europe had been damaged by years of hostility towards the ECHR.
Labour continue to isolate left-wing
Labour will not restore the party whip to John McDonnell, Apsana Begum and Zarah Sultana. All three left-wingers had the whip suspended because they wanted to scrap the two-child limit. Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain and Rebecca Long-Bailey have all had the whip restored after it was removed six months ago for the same reason.
Labour sacks minister over racist and sexist messages [Guardian]
Andrew Gwynne has been sacked as a health minister and suspended from Labour after messages emerged in which he made racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic remarks, including a demeaning comment about Deputy PM Angela Rayner and a joke about hoping an elderly constituent would die before the next election. The messages, leaked to the Mail on Sunday, led Keir Starmer to remove him from government. Gwynne apologised but acknowledged the party’s decision.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative reaffirms DEI commitment despite Meta’s policy shift [Guardian]
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) has assured employees that its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) remains unchanged, despite Meta scrapping its own DEI programs. After Meta’s decision sparked outrage, CZI’s HR chief, Mark Gundacker, clarified that the two organisations operate independently. While Meta has abandoned prioritising diverse hiring, CZI continues to apply a DEI-focused approach.
The Mail continue to get abnormally high number of women married to cross dressers writing in
This is from this week:
And this is the one the writer is referring to from last week:
WHAT’S ON IN PARLIAMENT
Select business. Full business can be viewed here.
Monday, 10 February
2.30pm+ House of Lords, Oral Questions, “Commitment by the new government of Syria to freedom of expression, religion and belief.”
2.30pm+ House of Lords, Oral Questions, “Legislation to regulate AI in areas including intellectual property, automated decision-making and data labelling, following the publication of the AI Opportunities Action Plan on 13 January”.
Tuesday, 11 February
11.30am, House of Commons, Oral Questions, Health and Social Care (including topical questions). Listed to be asked; “What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to medical cannabis on the NHS,” “What steps he is taking to reduce inequalities in healthcare (twice),” “What steps his Department is taking to improve access to mental health services,” “What steps he is taking to tackle ADHD medication shortages.” The DUP’s Jim Shannon is listed to ask a topical question, so that’s one to keep an eye on.
11.30am+, House of Commons, Adjournment, “Potential impact of US global public health policy on the UK and international health cooperation”.
2.30pm+, House of Lords, Oral Questions, “Sanctions imposed by the President of the USA on staff working for the International Criminal Court”.
Wednesday, 12 February
12pm, House of Commons, Prime Minister’s Questions.
12pm+, House of Commons, Ten Minute Rule Motion, “Political donations”.
2pm private, 2.20pm public, Women and Equalities Committee, “The work of the Minister and the Minister of State for Women and Equalities (2024-25 session) – Oral evidence”.
Thursday, 13 February
9.30am+, House of Commons, General Debate, “LGBT+ History Month”.
1.30pm, Westminster Hall debate, “HIV testing week”.
Parliament is now in recess, again, until 24 February.
THIS WEEK
Monday, 10 February
Another farmers’ protest in London over inheritance tax changes
Sentencing of father guilty of murdering 14-year-old daughter Scarlett Vickers
Hearing in ACLU legal challenge to birthright citizenship EO
Tuesday, 11 February
Sue Gray introduction in the House of Lords
Donald Trump meets King of Jordan in Washington DC
Alice Weidel, leader of Germany’s far-right AfD party, heads to Hungary for talks with Viktor Orban
50 years ago today: Margaret Thatcher elected Conservative Party leader
Wednesday, 12 February
Justin Trudeau and Ursula von der Leyen meet at EU-Canada summit
Luis Rubiales testifies in assault trial
US Senate votes on Tulsi Gabbard nomination for Director of National Intelligence
Narendra Modi expected to visit the United States
Thursday, February 13
Report: NHS key services performance data, including data on waiting times
Report: Statistics on deaths associated with hospitalisation in England
Report: Mortgage and landlord possession statistics
Report: UK GDP Q4
Confirmation hearing for Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon
Senate Judiciary Committee votes on Kash Patel’s nomination to be FBI Director
Saturday, 15 February
Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest in London against Trump proposals for Gaza
Early presidential election in Abkhazia (Georgia)
Sunday, 16 February
BAFTAs
SHORTS
Peter Mandelson told a reporter to “fuck off” when asked about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. [Guardian]
THE PAPERS
This week, we saw more articles (32) than in the previous two weeks combined (29) as anti-trans content picks up pace once again, thanks to Donald Trump’s return.
The Telegraph, as usual, lead the way – and how! They had 15 articles this week:
Khan appears to remove his pronouns from social media
Film about trans teen will be shown to pupils as young as 11
Why is Network Rail so obsessed with gender?
Way of the world (LGBTQ+ History month, LGB nonsense)
Trans extremists corrupting DEI, say gay rights groups
Trump bans trans athlete visas ahead of LA 2028
Greens axe D-Day veteran, 100, in trans row
I’m no Maga fan but Trump is right about the creeping menace of trans athletes
Museum in ‘bonkers’ LGBT Lego warning
Taxpayer-funded charities give £400k to trans children’s groups
Now not even Lego is safe from today’s gender obsessed loonies
Let’s celebrate: Donald Trump is vaccinating the West against the woke mind virus
GP clinic ‘prescribed sex change drugs to troubled teens’
US foreign aid funded legal advice for trans asylum seekers in Britain
Stop using trans pronouns in sex attack cases, judges warned
As you can see from the list above, less than a third of these involve Trump. Largely, the papers are still ignoring his anti-trans EOs, only briefly covering the sport ban and not mentioning others at all, while using it all as an excuse to increase UK-specific anti-trans content.
The Mail had eight:
A shock to find he’s a cross dresser
Sharron: PM must ban trans athletes like Trump did
A level playing field
Beleaguered star goes to ground as Emilia Perez woes continue
Outrage as NHS offers trans men fertility treatment while many women are turned down
Kemi backs Trump athlete ban
NHS needs a dose of Trump
D-Day vet, 100: My Green Party suspension for trans views is a witch-hunt
The Times had five:
Film about trans teen will be shown to pupils as young as 11
Netflix drops trans actress after backlash over tweets
Sports edict makes Trump a feminist hero
Old online jibes may soot down the chances of Oscars trailblazer
Men are not women – at last the US is united
As for The Guardian and Observer, they had more content about trans people in a single week than they have had since August. They also only had a total of four articles between 14 December and 5 February but managed four in four days this week.
August was also the last time Sonia Sodha’s one column was published in the Observer. She’s dusted it off again this week:
Trans rights Trump signs sports ban
Emilia Perez star to miss Spain’s ‘Oscars’ in row over racist posts
Emilia Perez Oscar campaign rethink amid fallout over star
No woman should be forced to change her clothes in front of a male colleague
Quoted or mentioned this week:
Simon White of the LGB Alliance on DEI in the workplace.
Fiona Mcanena of Sex Matters on Lego
Sir John Hayes of the Tufton Street-based Common Sense Group on charity for trans kids
Sharron Davies on biology
Nigel Farage on trans asylum seekers
Maya Forstater of Sex Matters telling judges what to call trans people
Whose bylines were on all these articles? David Chazan, Mark Ludlow, Tom Ball, anon, Ben Marlow, Michael Deacon, Lucy Burton, Charlotte McDonald-Gibson, Tom Morgan, Patrick Sawyer, Marina Dunbar, Sam Jones, Judith Woods, Craig Simpson, Gordon Rayner, Rowan Pelling, Sam Merrriman (twice), comment, Alison Boshoff, Sam Jones, Camilla Tominey, Lucy Elkins, Janice Turner, David Sanderson, Sonia Sodha, Patrick Sawyer, Benedict Smith, Sanchez Manning, Sarah Vine, Cameron Charles, Hadley Freeman.
What was this week’s standout: A bunch of so-called feminists calling Donald Trump, who has been accused of rape and sexual assault by at least 25 women, a hero for women because he banned a handful of trans women and girls from sport.
Spotted or know something you think I should include in the Trans Agenda?
THE PAPERS Monday 3 February- Sunday 9 February
Monday Total: 1
The Guardian [0]
The Times [1]
Daily Mail [0]
Telegraph [0]
Tuesday Total: 2
The Guardian [0]
The Times [0]
Daily Mail [0]
Telegraph [2]
Wednesday Total: 4
The Guardian [0]
The Times [1]
Daily Mail [0]
Telegraph [3]
Thursday Total: 3
The Guardian [1]
The Times [0]
Daily Mail [0]
Telegraph [2]
Friday Total: 8
The Guardian [1]
![Emilia Pérez downfall Karla Sofía Gascón to miss Spanish ‘Oscars’ The Guardian7 Feb 2025Sam Jones Karla Sofía Gascón’s comments were said to be ‘absolutely hateful’ Karla Sofía Gascón will not attend this weekend’s prestigious Goya awards as the fallout from the Spanish actor’s racist and Islamophobic social media posts continues with her being dropped by her publisher and criticised by prominent politicians. Gascón – the star of Emilia Pérez and the first transgender woman to be nominated for a best actress Oscar – is already understood to have been removed from the film’s campaigning materials by its studio, Netflix. Her comments have been described as “absolutely hateful” by the movie’s director, Jacques Audiard, while Gascón’s co-star, Zoe Saldaña, has said the views expressed saddened and disappointed her. Yesterday, Spanish media reported that Gascón – who has apologised for the comments made in old posts on X – would not be attending tomorrow’s Goya awards, which are Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars. It also emerged that Dos Bigotes, a publishing house specialising in LGBTQ+, gender and feminist themes, has dropped plans for a revised edition of a biographical novel that Gascón published in Mexico in 2018. Dos Bigotes said it had told the actor of its decision on Monday, informing her that the sentiments aired in her posts were inconsistent with its commitment to “equality, inclusion and diversity”. However, the publisher said it had told her: “We believe that the passage of time, and the lessons that life and time teach us, can make us better.” The previous day, two prominent leftwing Spanish politicians had weighed in on the controversy. “I have to say that I feel bad about Karla Sofía Gascón’s tweets,” said the culture minister, Ernest Urtasun. “They don’t reflect Spanish society, and it pains me to say it, because her [Oscar] candidacy was very important for the country. And those tweets have tarnished that.” The labour minister and deputy prime minister, Yolanda Díaz, was asked about the matter during a radio interview. “I was absolutely delighted when [Gascón] was nominated because of the symbolism and the force of what she represents,” she told Cadena Ser. “When I read the tweets, which aren’t tweets but are reflections of what a person thinks, I was deeply upset.” Although the recently unearthed social media posts – in which Gascón called George Floyd “a drug addict swindler” and said Islam was “becoming a hotbed of infection for humanity” – are thought to have destroyed her Oscar hopes, some have questioned the scale and ferocity of the backlash the actor faces. In a column in El País on Wednesday, the writer and journalist Sergio del Molino argued that Karla Sofía Gascón the actor and Karla Sofía Gascón the person ought to be considered separately, and that she should not be penalised come the Oscars ceremony. “If the people at the Academy were convinced that Karla Sofía Gascón deserved an Oscar for her work on Emilia Pérez, there’s no reason why they should feel differently today,” he wrote. “No matter how idiotic, racist, insulting or in bad taste her tweets from years ago were, they were not part of her performance. And if they deemed that performance prize-worthy a week ago, they still should, because the film hasn’t changed.” Another writer and journalist, Manuel Jabois, told Cadena Ser radio: “Anyone who doesn’t feel a bit sorry for her has a problem,” while acknowledging that there was a debate to be had about how to separate Gascón’s “artistic talent from her disgusting and racist” opinions. Article Name:Emilia Pérez downfall Publication:The Guardian Author:Sam Jones Start Page:29 End Page:29](https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b5207c4b-5eed-413c-b694-42569f58fa84_925x566.png)
The Times [0]
Daily Mail [3]
![Beleaguered star goes to ground as Emilia Perez’s woes continue... Daily Mail7 Feb 2025 Controversial: Karla Sofia Gascon THE star of Emilia Perez – the most nominated foreign language film in Oscars history – is being erased from its campaign. Karla Sofia Gascon, a trans woman, will not be at the Critics Choice awards in LA tonight, even though she is nominated for Best Actress. Nor will she be at the Producers Guild Of America (PGA) Awards in LA tomorrow. It’s thought that she will also stay away from the Baftas later this month — and the Oscars on March 2 — as Netflix seeks to protect the Oscar chances of Emelia Perez supporting actress Zoe Saldana, and of the film itself, which is in the running for Best Picture and Best International Feature Film. Gascon has been quietly dropped from a number of ‘For Your Consideration’ panel discussions and screenings, too. Nobody is speaking about what has gone on, but it seems that Gascon is now only dealing with Netflix via her agent, and there are mutterings about threats of legal action on both sides. Matters were not improved when the film’s star gave a not particularly apologetic interview to CNN en Espana earlier this week — without first telling anyone. In it, Gascon declared: ‘I have been convicted and sacrificed and crucified and stoned without a trial and without the option to defend myself.’ Things started to sour for Emilia Perez after old remarks Gascon made on social media resurfaced. Several have caused enormous offence, including one about Hitler. Gascon wrote: ‘I do not understand so much world war against Hitler, he simply had his opinion of the Jews. The end, that’s how the world goes.’ She also wrote that George Floyd, the black man murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis five years ago, was ‘a drug addict and a hustler’. And in a tweet about the 93rd Oscars, she likened Daniel Kaluuya’s and YuhJung Youn’s respective triumphs to an ‘Afro-Korean festival’. Gascon says some of her remarks have been misconstrued and were sarcastic or written in the third person. Co-star Saldana has been openly horrified, commenting last week: ‘It makes me really sad, because I don’t support [it], and I don’t have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group.’ And in an interview with Deadline Hollywood this week, the film’s French director, Jacques Audiard, described Gascon’s comments as ‘inexcusable’. He said: ‘I haven’t spoken to her, and I don’t want to. She is in a self-destructive approach... and I really don’t understand why she’s continuing.’ Meanwhile, I can reveal that there was a distance between Gascon and the rest of the cast during filming. For whatever reason, Gascon did not socialise with them and, since she speaks no English or French, there was not much bonding going on. Then, during the promotional tour, sources tell me Gascon was ‘not a team player’ and stayed on the sidelines while the others tried to sell the film. In an interview a month ago, Gascon indicated the shoot in Paris was ‘lonely’. After production wrapped she shared a picture of herself with castmates and wrote: ‘Forgive me for my desperation. For how much of a beast I can be in life.’ The star’s representatives were asked for a comment, but did not respond. Article Name:Beleaguered star goes to ground as Emilia Perez’s woes continue... Publication:Daily Mail Start Page:35 End Page:35](https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b0810645-e31e-43c7-9c8d-4470af7c5cb0_775x607.png)
Telegraph [4]
![Now not even Lego is safe from today’s gender obsessed loonies The Daily Telegraph7 Feb 2025ROWAN PELLING I’ve been going to London’s Science Museum since I was tiny. My mother was a great believer in improving day trips, so my siblings and I hoovered up London’s myriad free treasures. I loved connecting electric circuits to make a tiny light bulb come on: thrilling entertainment in the power-restricted dolour of the 1970s. Three decades later I took my own children, who were excited to discover, courtesy of an infrared camera mapping visitors by bodily warmth, that their mum was so frozen she was practically the living dead. I marched home triumphant to my thermostat-restricting husband and told him it had been “scientifically proven” that I was colder than the great mass of humanity. What I never visited this historic institution for, was enlightenment about queer identity or gender fluidity. Kenneth Williams, David Bowie and Jan Morris did that job excellently in the 1970s and countless thinkers and celebrities have taken up the baton since. But someone at the Science Museum still believed it imperative to instigate a self-guided tour that alerts visitors to “stories of queer communities, experiences and identities”. This might make sense if the remit was reminding people of the inhumane way that geniuses, such as Alan Turing, were once treated purely on the grounds of their sexuality. But, no, the Gender and Sexuality Network at the Science Museum, who devised the queer tour feel a burning need to take LGBTQ+ values to Lego. Apparently, the Danish plastic bricks adds weight to the “heteronormative” notion that there are only two sexes, because the protruding nodules can be seen as male, while the “bottom of the brick with holes to receive the [nodules] is female, and the process of the two sides being put together is called mating”. Forgive me, I did not write this gargantuan tosh and I’d happily incarcerate those who did for crimes against meaning and poor old science. One unexpected offshoot of viewing the world through these queer-tinted glasses is that they’ve rendered my house totally obscene. For years, I worried that my shelves were smutty because of the books and magazines I hoarded when editing the Erotic Review. Now, I gather that’s a minor issue compared to the teetering towers of filth on every surface in every room (yes, my 20-year-old and his dad still build Lego). Wherever you look there are crazed, copulating bricks making the Lego mini figure with two backs. I must admit it makes some sense of the fact that every time I clear away a great pile of bricks, more appear in their place. It’s not only Lego that’s had the queer-eye-for-the-straight-exhibit makeover. The museum’s tour also steers you to a Spitfire. Not for the sublime engineering and roar of its Rolls-royce Merlin engine, but because one exceptionally brave fighter pilot (then POW), the racing driver Robert Marshall Cowell, transitioned in his 30s, becoming Roberta. There are other egregious examples, but just repeating this guff makes me want to run amok with a woman-normative rolling pin. You’d think the Science Museum would have learnt its lesson in 2023 when a cabinet titled “Boy or Girl”, citing transition as a “hero’s journey” and displaying chest-binding equipment and an imitation penis, was dismantled after complaints. Generations of families have relied on Kensington’s great museums to educate their children so inventively that half-term morphs from misery to pleasure. Science isn’t gendered and no one has requested to see science more queerly. For that, we have Rupaul’s Drag Race. Article Name:Now not even Lego is safe from today’s gender obsessed loonies Publication:The Daily Telegraph Author:ROWAN PELLING Start Page:16 End Page:16](https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d0712a84-1672-4436-bcef-b8deafe27a5b_187x701.png)
Saturday Total: 7
The Guardian [1]
![Oscar campaign rethink amid fallout over star The Guardian8 Feb 2025Catherine Shoard Sam Jones Director Jacques Audiard, left, with Karla Sofía Gascón at Cannes The dramatic cancellation of Karla Sofía Gascón, star of the multi-Oscar nominated movie Emilia Pérez, has left publicists frantically struggling to keep the film in contention with just a week left before final Academy Awards voting opens. It has also led many in the industry to begin to re-evaluate their strategies and priorities. Despite the indisputable offensiveness of Gascón’s unearthed social media posts, some have questioned the wisdom of ostracising her so comprehensively. Speaking to the Guardian, a number of senior film publicists raised serious concerns over whether those working on the movie and its marketing, had, in the words of one veteran, “chucked her under the bus – then driven it back over her body”. “Those tweets were despicable,” they continued, “but everyone was onboard for this amazing fairytale: an unknown becoming first ever trans actor up for an Oscar.” That magical narrative, said another, curdled into “the absolute worst-case scenario”. Another veteran of the awards circuit said they had been particularly surprised by the coldness of Emilia Pérez’s director, Jacques Audiard, who said of Gascón: “I haven’t spoken to her, and I don’t want to.” “I think he’s trying to protect the remaining nominations [Emilia Pérez has 13] by distancing himself from Gascón,” said one insider. “But what’s really horrifying to me is that the most vulnerable person in the film, who previously was lauded and even fetishised, is now bearing the brunt of the ire and receiving no support.” On Thursday, Gascón posted on Instagram that she would be staying silent to “let the work talk for itself ”. This followed reports that Netflix was no longer including her in its campaign or covering her expenses to attend events. She has also been dropped by her Spanish publisher. The journalist Ryan Gilbey said that when he interviewed Gascón in October, the star’s garrulousness was widely held as central to her saleability, just as her personal journey – transitioning about a decade ago – was key to Audiard’s realisation of his drama about a Mexican cartel leader who transitions. “I think it makes it even more unsightly that the wrongdoer is someone who doesn’t know how to work the Hollywood machine politically, and has just kept digging a deeper hole for herself,” said Gilbey. “So now the denouncing of her has blurred into a vicious glee at this absolute rube who doesn’t know how to apologise properly or shut up – it’s like Jade Goody syndrome, and it’s the very quality that people found refreshing about Gascón when she was being unfiltered and tearful in interviews, or when accepting the best actress award at Cannes for herself and her co-stars.” Such volatility, coupled with a lack of experience or apparent support, means “her next moves are quite hard to call”, said one publicist. “Over the weekend, she was clearly freaking out … She seems calmer at the moment, but what’s happened would be disastrous for anyone’s mental health.” This is what happens, said one PR, when Oscar voters participate in “their annual performative patronage of marginalised communities. The frenzy around awards means there’s very little inquiry or self-reflection.” “The frantic race we’re currently seeing to condemn her over and over again,” says Gilbey, “contains that strain of Hollywood self-righteousness, that rush to say: ‘Look! We caught one of our own doing bad! That means we’ve defeated racism and hate and Islamophobia.’” Ironically, it has meant the industry is piling on to a member of an increasingly marginalised community. In the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, the actor Antonio Banderas said Gascón deserved the benefit of the doubt, adding he felt she had been the victim of transphobia. Article Name:Oscar campaign rethink amid fallout over star Publication:The Guardian Author:Catherine Shoard Sam Jones Start Page:17 End Page:17](https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/54f377e7-a14d-480b-9e4a-2604768ae7ed_1325x757.png)
The Times [2]
![Old online jibes may shoot down the chances of Oscars trailblazer The star of a gangster musical was tipped to be the first transgender best actress before the row, David Sanderson writes Karla Sofía Gascón, right, with Emilia Pérez co-star Zoe Saldaña, has jeopardised her chance of becoming the first transgender actress to win an Oscar or Bafta award. Next image › Last month Karla Sofía Gascón was on top of the film world. She had made movie history becoming the first transgender performer shortlisted for Oscar and Bafta best actress awards and was triumphantly leading the female ensemble of the film musical Emilia Pérez through the awards season romp which, it was confidently predicted, it would dominate. And then Gascón’s social media history bit. Hard. Her historic posts on X made for grim reading. A Covid-era tweet said the “Chinese vaccine” came with two spring rolls. She said George Floyd, the black American whose killing by a police officer led to nationwide protests, was a “drug addict swindler”. She wrote that Islam was a “hotbed of infection for humanity” while in a separate post that, on its own, would have had her cold-shouldered by American film academy voters, she wrote that she did not know if the 2021 Oscars ceremony was an “Afro-Korean festival [or] a Black Lives Matter demonstration”, calling it “an ugly, ugly gala”. Films take a long time to produce but Hollywood’s retribution was swift. There were immediate calls for the Spanish-born Gascón, 52, to withdraw from the best actress awards; Netflix airbrushed her from promotional materials; her Emilia Pérez co-stars distanced themselves from her; and then, this week, the French director Jacques Audiard accused her of “continuing to harm us” and “playing the victim”. A romp through awards season is now anything but assured for the Spanish-language musical, which is how many would have liked it even before Gascón’s social media past emerged. The film is perfect Hollywood material with its focus on Gascón’s character’s transition from male Mexican gangster to female charity worker trying to find victims of cartel violence. Perfect fodder for the “culture war resistance”. There is an audacity to its musical numbers, some sizzling acting from the female cast, and one must not underestimate the desire of film academies to show they do appreciate foreign language films. Even before Gascón’s self-destruction there were question marks about the “Marmite” musical; regarded as a classic by some critics and an overblown turkey by others. Mexicans did not care for it. One screenwriter, Hector Guillen, said it was “racist Eurocentrist mockery”; the accent of Gascón’s co-star, Selena Gomez, 32, was widely ridiculed; while the trans Mexican film-maker Camila Aurora produced her own parody film — shot in Mexico — showing French people in clichéd clothing such as berets dancing in the streets of “Paris”. The film entered the public domain at last year’s Cannes Film Festival when Gascón, Gomez, Zoe Saldaña and Adriana Paz collectively won the best actress award. Netflix bought the rights to distribute and released it on its platform in November. But to little acclaim. It has a low 5.6 out of 10 rating on IMDB while Rotten Tomatoes records a 76 per cent average from “top critics” and 17 per cent from general audience members. But that love from the critics — The Times gave it five stars, describing it as a “vivid, high-energy film, one of the year’s best” — was enough to ensure film academy voters had it top of their list to watch. The Golden Globes was first up and made Emilia Pérez the big winner with four awards including best motion picture — musical or comedy, best original song and best supporting actress for Saldaña. Gascón lost out to Demi Moore in the best actress category. The British film academy gave it 11 shortlisting spots, second overall only to the papal thriller Conclave, with Gascón again in the running for leading actress. The American academy gave it a pack-leading 13 nominations with Gascón and Saldaña again in the running. When Gascón’s historic tweets emerged — discovered by a freelance journalist and published in Variety — Gascón gave an interview to CNN apologising to anyone who “may have felt offended”, insisting she was not a racist and saying: “I cannot step down from an Oscar nomination because I have not committed any crime, nor have I harmed anyone.” Netflix distanced itself. A new promotional poster was produced with Gascón almost entirely erased. Her appearances at pre-awards ceremony functions have been cancelled while it is uncertain if she will appear at the Bafta ceremony on February 16 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, or the Oscars in Los Angeles on March 2. Audiard, its French director, could not contain his fury this week, saying in Deadline that some of the things she had written were “absolutely hateful and worthy of being hated”. Unfortunately, for the team, the controversy has erupted at the time film academy voters are making their decisions. So while the songs, the supporting actresses and even the director will survive untainted, the wait for the first transgender actress triumph at the Oscars and Bafta might go on.](https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7bbe299c-b031-4fec-a9e4-a2433e160643_522x647.png)
![Sports edict makes Trump a feminist hero The man who used to boast about pussy-grabbing is being lauded by women after a commonsense stroke of his pen Janice Turner @VICTORIAPECKHAM Janice Turner As a crowd of female athletes and little girls in tracksuits clustered around his desk, President Trump seemed unable to believe his luck. “What a nice picture this is,” he declared, signing his executive order entitled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” to a trilling chorus of “thank you, Mr President!”. Back in 2017, one day after his first inauguration, feminists marched against a man who’d boasted about grabbing women by the pussy and who’d told shock jock Howard Stern that when he owned the Miss Universe beauty pageant he liked to barge into dressing rooms to catch contestants naked. Trump was not just a misogynist, campaigners said, but would dismantle abortion rights by packing the Supreme Court with conservative judges. And lo, in 2022, with the overturning of Roe v Wade, it came to pass. Yet here was Trump applauded by women, and not just Republicans but lifelong Democrats or previously apolitical sports stars like RileyGaines, who turned campaigner after being forced to race 6ft 1in trans swimmer Lia Thomas. At the White House, Trump recalled watching that race: “It was ridiculous, frankly”. And the nation agreed. A New York Times poll found 79 per cent of Americans (including 67 per cent of Democrats) thought men didn’t belong in women’s sports, making it probably the most popular executive order ever. “My administration will not stand by and let men beat and batter female athletes,” said Trump. “It’s common sense more than anything else.” It was ridiculous, it was common sense. Anyone could see it was unfair for female athletes to race males who, regardless of transition, retain a 10 to 50 per cent physical advantage. So why did it take Trump to say this, and why did the Democrats gift their worst enemy such an easy win, allowing Trump — who in another executive order just banned all federal funding to abortion services — to be hailed as a feminist president? The fable of the emperor’s new clothes is timeless because it captures a trope in human nature, to fall in with prevailing norms, however absurd. When the conmen tailors hold up the emperor’s “invisible suit”, his courtiers tell him it’s wonderful. No one speaks the truth for fear of punishment or looking stupid, until finally a small boy says what everyone is thinking: the emperor is naked. The Democrats listened only to the extreme activist lobby, like the American Civil Liberties Union and GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, who spun science-denying sophistry to “prove” putting males in women’s sports was fine and might even improve female performances. For a quiet life, governing bodies, colleges, coaches, corporate sponsors, broadcasters all fell in line. But now Trump, the impudent boy, has broken the spell. Pronouns are slipping off Twitter bios and corporate sign-offs It is not just fear of lost federal funding that led the powerful National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), under which 200,000 women compete, to immediately abolish rules which allowed Lia Thomas both to whup elite women and watch them undress. Across America, colleges are quietly editing their websites. And you sense relief among the handwringing cowards who sacrificed women’s hopes. Thank God we have an excuse — the nasty president made us! — to end this madness. In his speech, Trump announced that all males hoping to compete in women’s events at the 2028 LA Olympics will be denied visas. It will not come to that. The IOC presidency is currently being contested and all candidates, not just the trenchant World Athletics president Seb Coe, have vowed to defend the female category. They cite the Paris Olympics debacle, when outgoing president Thomas Bach said that holding passports stating they were female qualified two biological male boxers to fight women. Both won gold. The world witnessed sex denialism at its most dangerous, ludicrous and unjust. How hard the trans lobby made it — by hobbling language, branding facts as bigotry, turning womanhood into a “vibe” — for anyone to speak the truth. It is telling that the BBC website could not even name Trump’s executive order, since its title refers to “men”. Other reports said that “transgender athletes” or “trans women” were banned from sports. A nonsense: they are free to compete in the open male category. Calling out the naked emperor is easier for a man. Women tend to be denounced and punished if they speak as they find. At an employment tribunal in Fife, NHS nurse Sandie Peggie, who has worked at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy for 30 years, is battling to say what she saw with her own eyes. As with sport, this is a simple matter being obfuscated by absurd beliefs few people share. Peggie was suspended for challenging a transidentifying male doctor, Beth Upton, for using the female changing rooms. Yet she faced a legal battle even to name Upton (who sought anonymity), to call him a man or use male pronouns. But how else, she argued, could she convey how embarrassed and intimidated she felt late at night, attending to an unexpected period in an enclosed space watched by a male? “Do you accept that calling [Upton] a man not a woman is likely to cause immense distress?” asked the doctor’s counsel. “It’s the truth,” Peggie replied. Trump’s election has supercharged a move back to common sense. Pronouns are slipping off celebrity Twitter bios and corporate sign-offs. Sheep always wait to move with the flock. For our government the test will come later this month if the Supreme Court rules in the For Women Scotland case that a gender recognition certificate allows a man to be legally female in all cases: effectively introducing gender self-ID via the back door. Labour needs the guts to challenge its own extreme activists, to keep its election promise to defend female-only spaces and clarify the definition of sex in law. Will Keir Starmer be a foolish emperor or a clear-eyed boy?](https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/849fbaeb-2667-420e-90a7-f19706b0a684_1408x814.png)
Daily Mail [3]
Telegraph [1]
Sunday Total: 7
The Observer [1]
The Sunday Times [1]
Mail on Sunday [2]
Sunday Telegraph [3]
TRANSWRITES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
Calls for boycott as Oxford Literary Festival continually promotes bigotry, by Gemma Stone
My doctor emailed me back, by Abigail Thorn
Hilary Cass accuses critics of “shroud-waving” over trans youth harm, by Lee Hurley
The Rainbow Laces campaign isn’t enough, by Arthur Webber
How Erika Hilton – a Black travesti trans woman – is changing Brasil, by Lis Welch
When was the T added to LGBT? A quick history, by Sarah Clarke
Trans people are the greatest assault on women in JK Rowling’s life time, apparently, by Gemma Stone
NHS & puberty blockers: Former GIDS patients reflect on long wait times, invasive assessments, by Sasha Baker.
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