Political commentator who said ‘there should be’ Brexit riots spent years demonising trans people
Brendan O’Neill declaring there “should be” riots from Leave voters for the failure to deliver Brexit. (BBC Politics Live)
British columnist and Brexit supporter Brendan O’Neill has provoked an uproar by saying there “should be” riots over Brexit, live on TV.
There is strict legislation against inciting violent activity, including riots, and the UK’s former top prosecutor has called for police to investigate O’Neill over the comments.
But his outburst wasn’t surprising for many in the LGBT+ community, who unfortunately are long used to O’Neill’s divisive and incendiary rhetoric on transgender people.
The editor of Spike Online has penned numerous articles ‘demonising’ transgender and non-binary people, with headlines including ‘Trans activists are the real bigots’, ‘Call me Caitlin, or else: The rise of authoritarian transgender politics’ and ‘Sorry, Sam Smith, but you’re still a he.’
Journalist and trans advocate Paris Lees pointed out the connection, tweeting: “Trans people and others have been trying to warn you where all this was heading for years.
“Has the penny dropped?”
In case you don’t know Brendan O’Neill, the man who said “there should be riots” on the BBC today, has spent years demonising trans people in the name of ‘free speech’
Trans people and others have been trying to warn you where all this is headed for years
Has the penny dropped? pic.twitter.com/RhaQYnqUdY
— Paris Lees (@parislees) September 27, 2019
Her words rang true for many in the LGBT+ community, who compared trans people to the canaries in the coal mines.
Worth mentioning that it was #trans women of colour who warned the world of the rise of the extreme right in midwestern US states more than a decade before Trump.
Cis people: Ignore the trans canaries in the calming at your peril.— Dr Natacha Kennedy (@natachakennedy) September 27, 2019
Every single time trans people have warned about fascism, we’ve been right.
— ?️⚧️ VƎX is Trans ?️⚧️ (@vexwerewolf) September 27, 2019
What baffles me is that if these anti-trans people said many of the same things about any other group of people, there would be no question that they are bigots.
So why is it then positioned as free speech and not hate speech when they attack trans people?— Keelie’s Trans-cendence (@KeelieSturm) September 28, 2019
Your friendly, regular reminder that trans rights are the canary in the coalmine of rising fascism, and that poor canary has been choking for *quite some time now* https://t.co/0xzeTw1dZR
— Chris McCrudden (@cmccrudden) September 27, 2019
We are the canaries in the coal mine who are routinely ignored.
— Dr Natacha Kennedy (@natachakennedy) September 27, 2019
We hate to say we told you so, but…
