Dennis Kavanagh talks to Graham Linehan: “I knew it was a dangerous debate to get involved in and I knew they’d come after my livelihood.”

Graham Linehan is a man who needs little introduction to those following the increasingly public and urgent gender debate. He’s long been a prominent “gender critical” commentator and journalist known for a wildly successful Substack account and a popular weekly YouTube talk show “The Mess We’re In” in which he, Helen Staniland and Arty Morty dissect the comings and goings of the gender debate often beginning with the refrain “Well, what a week”.

He is in some ways an unlikely figure to be at the centre of the debate in gay politics being a heterosexual father of two who, prior to the public discussion of gender, was best known for his award-winning comedy writing with hugely popular shows such as Father Ted and Black Books. Asked what prompted him to activism in this area, Linehan pointed to his pro-choice activism during the 2018 Irish abortion referendum based on his own family’s need for medically necessary termination. He explained, “My wife and I had just come off the campaign to repeal the 8th amendment and within that we told our personal story within the campaign”.

“I saw vicious misogynistic bullying of feminists, the word ‘terf’, I kept hearing it on Twitter”

That campaign firmly established Linehan as a social media presence with an influential (now permanently suspended) Twitter account. Prior to the pro-choice victory he began to notice a worrying trend; he says, “I saw vicious misogynistic bullying of feminists, the word ‘terf’, I kept hearing it on Twitter”. Linehan recalls the Twitter and social media sphere of that time as a very different space to today pointing out that the use of the word “terf” alone could easily and quickly mark an account out for bullying, harassment and suspension. He remains a staunch opponent of the term “terf” saying, “it’s only used for two reasons, to tag women as acceptable targets for harassment and to terrify those who have not yet entered the debate”.

Here matters could easily have ended. Linehan could have quite simply returned to lucrative comedy writing and more popular forms of activism, but he felt, he says, compelled to stand up and do something, “I knew it was a dangerous debate to get involved in and I knew they’d come after my livelihood, but I had an insurance payout following a bout of cancer which I thought might last me until the Father Ted musical, but then COVID happened and the theatres closed”.

Asked what spurred him into activism, Linehan said, “My immediate worry was women being harassed offline and gender non-conforming kids being medicalised”. He explained these concerns have only become more serious following gay organisations such as LGB Alliance highlighting and campaigning against the homophobia of gender ideology, commenting, “I’ve been aware since day one of the harassment of lesbians and the ‘Cotton Ceiling’, something I picked up on four years before the BBC were in a position to report on it”.

Asked whether any celebrity friends were willing to support his gender critical public stance at this early point Linehan explained, “When I was talking about teenage girls having unnecessary double mastectomies and lesbians being sexually coerced, I thought my friends would leap to their feet and say ‘How can I help?’ But they were either silent, or they joined in with the abuse.” Lonely he may have been, but his social media presence, writing and activism tells the story of a man seemingly undeterred in the face of significant hostility.

“Fuck Off Graham” poster at Norwich Pride in July 2018 (Photo by John Birdsall/Alamy Stock Photo)

Today Linehan’s YouTube show is a focal point for gender critical analysis and thought with the three hosts regularly interviewing some of the most prominent figures in the debate. If a story is in the news, the person concerned is most likely to be on the show it seems. This year alone artist Jess de Wahls, campaigner and consultant Maya Forstater, writer Helen Joyce, lesbian activist Ceri Black and MP Rosie Duffield have appeared.

Linehan explained, “We first started it because I enjoyed speaking to GNC Centric, a detransitioner, it was a pleasure to talk to her, same with Arty, he’d done a few videos; I interviewed Helen Staniland and we just started, it just clicked as a trio, we had the point of view of women, gay people and me as a straight host in it for reasons of not just trying to help but defend my reputation”. Asked why the show has become a staple for gender critical discussion Linehan commented, “Anyone who watches it will realise it’s smart compassionate people talking about an urgent issue”.

Linehan’s Substack is perhaps equally popular and is probably one of the most frequently updated and comprehensive guides to the stories of the moment in this area of debate. A quick glance at the meticulously researched content demonstrate it’s something of a labour of love from Linehan, and a much needed lifeline in an era of cancellation. Linehan has been dogged in his journalism on Substack covering stories about the involvement of Challenor in Stonewall, taking on celebrities and providing a home and opportunity to amplify gender critical stories such as his publication of Jo Bartosh’s LGB Alliance conference speech. Linehan’s Substack and social media activity have certainly morphed into formidable campaigning tools with thousands of pounds raised for Vancouver Rape Relief following an attempt to shut the service down on the basis of gender “inclusivity”.  

“I have been surprised by every cancellation, I had a big thing in Australia, told them I was happy to speak to any trans person about my stance but no they didn’t want to speak, I just kept losing jobs”

These successes have come in the teeth of something of an onslaught. Linehan says his official Wikipedia contains heavily slanted, accusatory language and any attempts made to rectify inaccuracies are reverted in 15 minutes. It’s clear from this and some media coverage that he quickly became a hate figure to the other side of the debate. Clearly, he would be a richer man had he shut his mouth as the professional costs to him were enormous. Linehan details a number of cancelled projects and writing opportunities as a result of the debate; he says, “I have been surprised by every cancellation, I had a big thing in Australia, told them I was happy to speak to any trans person about my stance but no they didn’t want to speak, I just kept losing jobs”.

Linehan was one of the signatories to a now famous letter to Stonewall asking for a calmer, less accusatory debate, also signed by the founders of the LGB Alliance. Such calls have gone unheeded, with little sign that the rancour or bitterness in this debate will abate anytime soon. Asked about the oft made allegations that he is transphobic in some way, Linehan points to his frequent work with gender critical trans people “I recently posted a thing on Substack of 30 trans people on our side, Debbie (Hayton) for one completely understands, Kristina Harrison, Scott Newgent…. we just get misrepresented constantly”.

Linehan’s analysis of the dysfunction in the debate is based on what he sees as a cultural trend towards embracing unreality typified by the former President. He says, “Instead of rejecting the Trump lessons, the Left have embraced his strategies, just like Fox News creates a separate tier of reality so the Left have created another tier of reality and they can say anything they want, it persists as a truth no one can back up”. His analysis is that the Left never recovered from Trump and Brexit and that the lessons of public manipulation by deceit, rather than being repudiated, have been embraced by identity politicians. Beneath the word play of pronouns and 100 different genders, Linehan’s analysis is that of a power game being played on a social level; accounting for the popularity of gender identity he comments, “that feeling of power is kinda addictive I would say”.

“Hopefully as few people as possible will be hurt. That’s the real urgency. We have to try and stop this before more gay or gender-nonconforming kids destroy their mental and physical health with irreversible drugs and surgeries”

After years in the debate Linehan takes the view that there are grounds for optimism. Asked if 2021 feels different to 2016 in this respect, he said, “Yes it definitely does, GC feminists have just been doing great work, it is making it a little bit safer; you can’t just say someone’s a terf and just cancel them now”. He points to an outpouring of public support for Scottish mother Marion Miller (recently arrested on criminal charges now discontinued pending a prosecution review) and artist Jess de Wahls commenting that the difference, as he sees it is, “they’re supported now”.

Looking to the future Linehan sees both positives and negatives. Though interviewed prior to the recent gubernatorial election in Virginia State, he commented, “I can see Trump winning another term”. He went on to say, “Something terrible like Trump, a medical scandal, I’m very nervous that something terrible will have to happen for real change to occur”. As to signs for hope he remains resolute, “We will win because it’s (gender identity) untenable, journalists will get braver, detransitioners and victims of groomers will feel able to speak”.

Speaking on the permanent harm done to detransitioners Linehan commented, “Hopefully as few people as possible will be hurt. That’s the real urgency. We have to try and stop this before more gay or gender-nonconforming kids destroy their mental and physical health with irreversible drugs and surgeries”. Overall, he conveys a picture of his characteristic energy and basic optimism, a firm belief that communicating harms and objections often and clearly enough might have some effect. In this way, he remains a figure in the era of “no debate” who didn’t get the memo and shows no signs of stopping debating anytime soon.

You can read Graham Linehan’s Substack here.

Dennis Kavanagh is a legal commentator and barrister (non-practising).

Dennis blogs about LGBT issues and law here

Top photo by Kirsty O’Connor/PA Images/Alamy Stock – Graham Linehan at the first LGB Alliance annual conference at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre.