A Request From JL About That Metro Hit Piece

Hello. Just a quick note following on from Graham’s piece on Friday about that disgusting article in The Metro.

Can I please ask everyone who feels able to complain to The Metro (all the contact details you need are here) and to IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (contact details here).

I think it’s important we take a stand over this appalling attempt to smear Graham and that we stand up for him the way he has always stood up for us. I’ve already written and sent my complaints so, to save time, if anyone wants to crib some / all of my text below, please feel free to do so. Thank you!

To The Metro:

I am writing to complain about the article you ran on Tuesday 23rd February concerning the writer and director, Graham Linehan.

This article is breath-takingly dishonest and inaccurate and it completely misrepresents Mr Linehan’s actions and intentions.

From the outset, the article claims that Mr Linehan’s joining a lesbian dating app was intended to “Mock transgender women”. This is as lie. Similarly, it states that Mr Linehan, “Shared screenshots of trans women he deemed to be not feminine enough”. This is also a lie.

Mr Linehan’s intention was to highlight the very real and alarming problem of physical males invading lesbian groups and spaces. And he made that VERY clear in the explanation on his website.

The dating app profiles to which Mr Linehan drew attention are clearly not ‘transwomen’ as the article claimed; they are MEN. Many of them have facial hair and beards. Heterosexual intact males have no right to place profiles on a dating app intended for lesbians and their doing so has serious implications and repercussions. THAT is what Mr Linehan was pointing out.

Either Emma Kelly did not bother doing even a cursory bit of research into the material she discussed in her article or she just deliberately lied about it.

Either way, this is appalling ‘journalism’.

Furthermore, it seems that The Metro deleted the many readers’ comments which objected to the article and supported Mr Linehan and his actions. (My own comment disappeared within minutes of my posting it.) This is a disgraceful attempt to obscure the facts and smear Mr Linehan.

Finally, the article claims that Mr Linehan was approached for a comment. Yet another lie.

At the very least, The Metro owes Mr Linehan an apology and full retraction.

Yours etc.

cc IPSO

To IPSO:

I am writing to complain about an article which appeared in The Metro on Tuesday 23rd February and concerns the writer and director, Graham Linehan.

This article is breath-takingly dishonest and inaccurate and it completely misrepresents Mr Linehan’s actions and intentions.

From the outset, the article claims that Mr Linehan’s joining a lesbian dating app was intended to “Mock transgender women”. This is as lie. Similarly, it states that Mr Linehan, “Shared screenshots of trans women he deemed to be not feminine enough”. This is also a lie.

Mr Linehan’s intention was to highlight the very real and alarming problem of physical males invading lesbian groups and spaces. And he made that VERY clear in the explanation posted on his website prior to the article appearing.

The dating app profiles to which Mr Linehan drew attention are clearly not ‘transwomen’ as the article claimed; they are very obviously MEN ie adult human males. Many of them even have facial hair and beards.

Heterosexual intact males have no right to place profiles on a dating app intended for lesbians and their doing so has serious implications and repercussions. THAT is what Mr Linehan was pointing out. Again, he made this very clear on his website.

Either Emma Kelly did not bother researching the material she discussed in her article or she just deliberately lied about it.

Furthermore, it seems that The Metro deleted the many readers’ comments objecting to the article and supporting Mr Linehan and his actions. (My own comment disappeared within minutes of my posting it.)

Finally, the article claims that Mr Linehan was approached for a comment. Yet another lie.

The article itself and The Metro’s subsequent actions seem like a deliberate attempt to smear Mr Linehan and mispresent the facts.

I trust you will investigate this matter with the upmost urgency.

Yours etc.