Debbie Hayton Debbie Hayton

Why does Innocent think this pensioner is guilty of ‘transphobia’?

(Getty images)

The trans debate can be a nasty one. And when women (and it usually is women) have the courage to speak out, they face being shamed and silenced. Their crime apparently is ‘transphobia’. But all too often, this word no longer means the hatred or fear of trans people like me. Instead, it refers to the simple act of disagreeing with an ideology that insists men and women are defined, not by their biology, but by feelings. Dame Jenni Murray, Professor Kathleen Stock, Joanna Cherry MP, Julie Bindel, and many other women have been hauled before a kangaroo court and been found guilty.

But behind these high-profile cases, ordinary women face the same treatment. An army of (often anonymous) accounts police social media for wrong think. Two years ago, Margaret Nelson, a 76-year-old, fell foul of this mob. For her troubles, she was spoken to by the police over online posts she had written, including: ‘Gender’s fashionable nonsense. Sex is real.’

Nelson, of course, had done nothing wrong, and Suffolk police subsequently apologised to her for its handling of the incident.

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