My Time To Wade In, Finally!

     Twitter has been going wild today in response to a 'certain' article published in The Observer and on the Guardian Website. Those within the trans community will be aware of which article I speak of because it has caused such an uproar! It is of course a justified response to what is, essentially, a hate filled rant against EVERY trans individual. For those not in the know, this article can be found on Google. I refuse to allow a link from this blog! Just type in the authors name, a certain Julie Burchill, and you'll come to it quickly enough.

     The story behind the article is that a journalist by the name of Suzanne Moore made a comment regarding Brazilian Transsexuals. As the murder rate among young transsexual women in Brazil is extremely high this comment provoked an angry reaction on Twitter. This prompted more comments from Moore and in the end she quit Twitter. We then jump forward and Burchill's reaction to her friends treatment at the hands of a 'bunch of dicks in chicks clothing.' (her words I hasten to add!). Now I try to keep an open mind where the media is concerned. I understand that there are two sides to everything and that it's important that the media gives both sides. There is a line though, a line beyond which it becomes pure hate-mongering and Burchill's article falls well within that category. It is so misinformed, so blatantly nasty as to be akin to something from the dark ages. 'bed wetters in bad wigs.' and 'Shims, Shemales, whatever you're calling yourselves these days...' are just some of the things she says. The truth is that Burchill is renouned for being an attention seeking ultra-feminist so we should maybe expect nothing less. Her 'fame' has been on the wane for some time and this article will give her some much needed attention. I try and keep this blog to my own personal life journey and often refuse to comment on the wider coverage of trans issues. There's enough bloggers out there better equipped to post about things like this. Here I am though, breaking my own personal rule and as such providing Burchill with that little extra coverage. The truth of the matter is that this article hit me pretty hard and it brought a lot of things home to me and I'm sure that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

     Who is to blame though? If Moore had only apologised for her first comment then maybe this whole episode would never have happened and Burchill wouldn't have had reason to vent her hate-filled anger. Of course, there is no excuse whatsoever for writing such an article, especially in a time when how the trans community is reported within the media is increasingly under the spotlight. Ultimately, the article should never have been allowed to see the light of day and because it did, the publishers have to be brought to account. In this case the publishers are the Guardian Media Group. Now bear in mind that this same Media Group have been publishing articles by a certain Juliet Jacques for the past 2 years! Ms Jacques is an extremely vocal member of the transgender community and even documented her own transition in The Guardian! How the same group can then publish Burchills rant is beyond me. 

     This is something that is sure to carry on in the coming weeks. Twitter has been crazy with it all day it really has. Many of the top commentators within the community such as Juliet Jacques, Paris Lees, Roz Kaveney and Patrick Strudwick (to name but a small section) have had their say. Even M.P. Lynn Featherstone has waded in voicing her condemnation at the publication of such an article! Ultimately this could prove to be a true watershed moment as what happens next could be extremely telling in the communities continued fight against bigotry and hatred. I know of a huge amount of complaints that have already been made and I'm positive that the powers that be will find it extremely tough to ignore this.