Zoe WilliamsJun 3, 2023
At the risk of coming off like I'm only interested in one thing, there is a fascinating, I think unintentional, reveal in Matthew Parris's column on woke (it's paywalled but te:dr, he basically equivalises anti-trans and pro-trans fringes, cheers Janice Turner but calls for respect for trans people, makes a plea for the beleaguered centre). But look at what he says about that pro-trans fringe
Show threadZoe WilliamsJun 3, 2023
'Can you remember any of their names?', he asks rhetorically. Well, no: me neither. But if there were this army he describes, getting spotlight and airtime, running nebulous organisations, making a living from their trans allegiance, we'd be able to Google them, presumably? If there were a pro-trans equivalent to Janice Turner, writing a weekly column about all the bad things anti-trans activists had done, we'd have heard of them.
Show threadZoe Williams
He's implicitly admitting this army doesn't exist, while simultaneously bemoaning that it has trivialised and toxified public debate. You know, I like the guy! But this is silly!
Jun 3, 2023 at 7:58amWeb
Show threadChristine Burns MBE 🏳️‍⚧️📚⧖Jun 3, 2023
@zoesqwilliams Matthew actively sought me out in 1995 when I was chairing a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool that year. The next day he wrote a generous column for his sketch in the Times saying that folks should listen to people like me. What happened to him in the intervening 28 years eh?
Show threadChristine Burns MBE 🏳️‍⚧️📚⧖Jun 3, 2023
@zoesqwilliams My TL;DR of your snapshot is “people are in this for the money; there can’t be much money in it”. Shame he doesn’t apply that question to the other side where there really does appear to be a ready supply oh Christian Nationalist wonga for anyone getting attention for the anti-trans cause. If I was marking his journalism it wouldn’t even get an F.
Show threadZoe WilliamsJun 3, 2023
@christineburns this is so interesting. Weird bit where he said we should all weigh you though - and he says _youre_ not a slick copywriter! 😂