Graham Linehan, a man once well loved across the UK for his part in creating comedy series Father Ted, Black Books, and The IT Crowd has plead not guilty to charges in court today.
The Irish writer, that some jokingly call 'Ireland's most divorced man', appeared in Westminster Magistrates Court today charged with criminal damages and harassment. The charges relate to an altercation last October at the Battle of Ideas Conference. Linehan reportedly damaged the mobile phone of Sophia Brooks, and then preceded to harass her online via social media between October 11th and 27th.
Appearing in court wearing a white t-shirt emblazoned with a photo of a front page from The Daily Telegraph reading 'Trans women are not women', Linehan confirmed his date of birth and name, and said 'not guilty' twice when the charges against him were read.
Upon leaving court he was met with supporters outside, who cheered for him. Speaking to the small crowd he said 'There is more at stake than my own name'. He made the claim that his transphobic comments and campaigning had been met with 'harassment, abuse, and threats' over the last six years, but told his supporters 'I'm still here. I've lost a great deal, but I will not waver in my resolve.'
Linehan has been freed on bail with the stipulation that he is not to contact Sophia Brooks, and his trial will begin on September 4th this year in the same court building.
Linehan has a history of anti-trans activism and comments, particularly on social media, since 2008, following an episode of the television series The IT Crowd that was met with mild criticism for being seen as playing into negative stereotypes and framing trans violence as humorous. This incident seems to have been the inciting moment that would later cause the man to spiral into becoming one of the most vocal transphobes in the UK; something that seems to have resulted in the loss of the majority of his fame and respect.
 |
| Linehan performing on the street to a small crowd following his stand-up show being cancelled. |
Over the years Linehan has praised transphobes, including calling anti-trans campaigners 'heroes', and claiming that the mere existence of trans women somehow erases lesbians. He has openly compared trans people to Nazis, and compared trans healthcare to Nazi concentration camp experiments and eugenics on television during an interview on BBC's Newsnight.
He has also tried to initiate campaigns to defund the trans children's charity Mermaids, trying to strip them of a lottery grant. He has also been accused of targeting an employee at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) for daring to employ a trans person. During this period he was also accused of engaging in online harassment of trans people and trans allies on social media, which resulted in him being sued for harassment, and being visited by police, more than once. According to his own admission, these frequent police visits and his obsession over trans people resulted in the end of his marriage.
This is only a small amount of the transphobia and harassment of trans people that Linehan has been active in over the last several years. It's rather telling that an award winning writers Wikipedia page has more space devoted to his harassment of trans people and desire to see the trans community erased than it does to his actual writing career.
There's little doubt in my mind considering his history, his vicious, abusive personality, and his frankly worrying obsession with strangers and what their genitals might be that Linehan did indeed engage in yet another case of harassment of a person that belongs to a minority he hates and should be found guilty of that. But this is Britain, where trans people are seen as sub-human and our rights are frequently erased, so who knows how this case will go in September.
No comments:
Post a Comment