Say their names

Responding to a disgraceful tweet from Matt Lucas

A few months ago, Matt Lucas phoned me and begged me to stop mentioning his cowardice and ignorance when it came to the fight against gender ideology. I was angry with him because he had signed some bogus petition at the request of GLAAD operative Anthony Watson, who had taken part in the harassment of Martina Navratilova. Also, of course, neither he nor David Walliams have ever defended me in this fight despite my having played a significant part in making both of them famous (I directed and worked closely with them on the pilot of ‘Little Britain’).

He told me that with a big gig coming up, he had to stay out of trouble. I agreed to lay off, because he seemed to understand that he had called the whole thing wrong.

And now this.

Matt Lucas @RealMattLucas

The LGB Alliance is an anti-trans group. That’s all it is. It doesn’t represent me or any gay people I care to know.

Matt, I’ll say again what I just sent you in a text. Kate and Bev have been fighting for the rights of gay and gender-nonconforming people since before you were born. Allison Bailey is a lesbian barrister who Stonewall tried to have fired for standing up for her rights. You have smeared them all disgracefully.

Your tweet shows that you “don’t care to know” lesbians who are being harassed and coerced by entitled , aggressive AGP men, who are using trans rights as a cover for their abuse. You “don’t care to know” the gay men who are facing the same pressure from young, straight women who are convinced they are gay men. You “don’t care to know” the young women, many of them gay, who have had their bodies taken from them because they fell into the trap of gender ideology at a young age.

One thing you’ll notice is that these cowards never use their names. that’s because if they did, Kate, Bev, Allison or Malcolm would be able to sue. It also allows them to dehumanise the group as shadowy puppet masters. Well, here are Kate and Bev again. Say their names, my former friend. Who exactly is anti-trans?

While I was in Wales to support the women objecting to the latest stitch-up from the Welsh Government, I met Kate Harris (top right) for a drink. She had just spent another long day dealing with the fallout from people like you smearing her. Kate is a longtime campaigner and I’m used to her responding to every setback with a joke and a shrug. But on that night, the stress was such that she burst into tears and we hugged until it passed.

That’s what harassment does. It wears you down.

I can only imagine what she goes through on a daily basis. And now this, your disgraceful, ignorant tweet.

Say their names. Say their names and explain why a group set up to protect the interests of people who are same-sex-attracted is anti-trans. Or point out anything they have said or done that is anti-trans. If you can’t do that, you owe Kate, Bev Allison, Malcolm Clark, and every member of LGB Alliance an apology.

Oh, and just in case it isn’t obvious, our deal is off.