Current Events > What the fuck is up with all the transphobia coming from the UK?

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://news.avclub.com/john-cleese-would-like-everyone-to-know-hes-not-that-i-1845735952

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I mean he did claim that London isnt a British city anymore when it was originally built by the Romans. And at least on this tweet he did backpedal and sort of apologise. And two celebrities doesnt = the entire UK.

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transphobia is not new. it being controversial is. this kind of thing is just easier to see now that it's actually getting pushback.

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80 year old wealthy White man is not super socially progressive, more at 11.

Tenlaar posted...

80 year old wealthy White man is not super socially progressive, more at 11.

Also this.

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This country is the equivalent of a donkey in a tuxedo at a black tie party, that has somehow successfully convinced everyone that it's a respectable member of the society despite occasionally shitting itself, knocking over tables and bucking other partygoers in the crotch.

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TBF the US really has no room to talk at the moment.

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Waitasecond, hope this topic isn't secretly trying to insinuate that despite all the social media haberdashery by ignorant young adults and guilt-ridden white women, the US is in fact one of the more progressive countries in the world?

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KingThing posted...

Waitasecond, hope this topic isn't secretly trying to insinuate that despite all the social media haberdashery by ignorant young adults and guilt-ridden white women, the US is in fact one of the more progressive countries in the world?

What if it is?

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refmon posted...

https://news.avclub.com/john-cleese-would-like-everyone-to-know-hes-not-that-i-1845735952

If you look at the substance of what Cleese actually said and not the theatric article around it it really isn't extreme.

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spikethedevil posted...

And two celebrities doesnt = the entire UK.

Americans might think the total UK population is 34 people.

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Firewerx posted...

Americans might think the total UK population is 34 people.

Americans think the UK is London and some fields.

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https://www.vice.com/en/article/889qe5/trans-rights-uk-debate-terfs

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DK9292 posted...

Americans think the UK is London and some fields.

to be fair it is

If I may ask. TC, what specifically do you take issue with?

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And now for something completely different

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvt0ABanNco

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Im waiting for URs unhinged posts about how the UK is batshit insane (btw Im not saying it isnt) and spout some daily mail level rubbish

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I just hope they're happy and that people treat them kindly

So Transphobic.

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Is a dude not giving a shit about something that has absolutely nothing to do with him really so bad?

If I continuously talked to people about me dressing up cucumbers in formal attire would it really be so out of line for someone to tell me "Hey, that is cool, but I really don't care about your cucumbers."?

PrideOfLion posted...

The article does bring up the point that while Cleese may say that he cares about a whole lot of stuff before he cares about trans people, he is the one who is spending time tweeting about trans individuals more than the other stuff

Citation needed on this part.

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Medussa posted...

transphobia is not new. it being controversial is. this kind of thing is just easier to see now that it's actually getting pushback.

Transphobia has always had a weirdly higher acceptance in the UK than America.

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CADE FOSTER posted...

to be fair it is

Not even remotely.

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TERF Island

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spikethedevil posted...

Not even remotely.

yeah there's also rivers and a lake or two

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And other major cities.

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I'm not interested in Pokemon, so I... Ya know... Don't discuss it?

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Dingydang166 posted...

Is a dude not giving a shit about something that has absolutely nothing to do with him really so bad?

If I continuously talked to people about me dressing up cucumbers in formal attire would it really be so out of line for someone to tell me "Hey, that is cool, but I really don't care about your cucumbers."?

Besides what shock already pointed out, do you think that trans people are just continuously talking about their gender out of the blue?

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Kajagogo posted...

So Transphobic.

We need to be real here. Lots of transphobes hide behind vague platitudes like they deserve kindness, but then are the same people who post this stuff



>_>

For the record, he got into this for defending JK Rowling, who got heat for supporting this woman:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50858919

I dont give a fuck enough to cancel John Cleese but lets at least be honest about whats going on here <_<

the I dont care remark is also a bit telling, because in the US I heard I dont care from homophobes after gay marriage was legalized >_>

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Anteaterking posted...

Besides what shock already pointed out, do you think that trans people are just continuously talking about their gender out of the blue?

I hate giving this rage clickbait article more clicks, but if you view the tweets John posted, each one was in direct response to other people bringing up the issue of trans-ness to him. So yes, while it probably wasn't all trans people asking him, people were brining it up out of the blue.

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AlisLandale posted...

For the record, he got into this for defending JK Rowling, who got heat for supporting this woman:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50858919

I dont give a fuck enough to cancel John Cleese but lets at least be honest about whats going on here <_<

You are doing a pretty weak game of culpability telephone right there. Cleese signed a letter JK signed, he did not endorse JK and certainly does not somehow endorse everybody JK endorses.

Cleese is pro free-speech and that is why he signed the letter about it.

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that's an interesting take, considering said letter was about silencing speech.

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joe40001 posted...

Cleese signed a letter JK signed, he did not endorse JK and certainly does not somehow endorse everybody JK endorses.

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/in-solidarity-with-jk-rowling

>_>

I understand that the wording in the article might seem ambiguous but he quite clearly is coming in defense of JK Rowling in response to the transphobia uproar around her

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Anteaterking posted...

Besides what shock already pointed out, do you think that trans people are just continuously talking about their gender out of the blue?

In my experience 100% yes.

AlisLandale posted...

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/in-solidarity-with-jk-rowling

>_>

I understand that the wording in the article might seem ambiguous but he quite clearly is coming in defense of JK Rowling in response to the transphobia uproar around her

Ok, I was mistaken. As I inferred from the article, I believed Cleese was getting flack for singing the Harper's letter:
https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/

I know many people got flack for signing that letter just because JK also signed it, I also know Cleese to be very pro free-speech so I inferred this was the letter that was being talked about. From your link it seems this is the letter Cleese apparently signed:

"We are a group of writers, actors, directors, musicians, producers, comedians and artists who wish to speak in support of JK Rowling. She has been subjected to an onslaught of abuse that highlights an insidious authoritarian and misogynistic trend in social media. Rowling has consistently shown herself to be an honourable and compassionate person and the appalling hashtag #RIPJKRowling is just the latest example of hate speech directed against her and other women that Twitter and other platforms enable and implicitly endorse.
We are signing this letter in the hope that if more people stand up against the targeting of women online, we might at least make it less acceptable to engage in it or profit from it.
We wish JK Rowling well and stand in solidarity with her. "

So it does seem Cleese endorses JK's character to an extent (or at the very least thinks #RIPJKRowling is bad, which if interpreted as a publicly sectioned death threat is probably bad).

It's a fairly big jump from that to him being transphobic. But I'm definitely not going to say people can't be critical of him supporting JK if they disapprove of JK.

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On a related note, Eric Idle said he never found his "I want to be a woman" part from Life of Brian to be a joke, and he found it to be a rare sad and sincere moment for a character he played.

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joe40001 posted...

It's a fairly big jump from that to him being transphobic.

even if this is true, he removed all doubt with the tweet quoted in this thread.

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Medussa posted...

even if this is true, he removed all doubt with the tweet quoted in this thread.

What do you think that tweet means?

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joe40001 posted...

#RIPJKRowling is bad, which if interpreted as a publicly sectioned death threat

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That website seems like hot trash

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FlameTurtle posted...

Look, I don't know twitter culture much, I stay off the cursed place, I know people can get very vitriolic, but if you are telling me #RIPPersonsName is not at all meant to allude to the threat of violence, I will trust you on that.

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what? it doesn't mean anything at all. its implication, however, is that trans people's identities are no more valid than his claims of a race, sex and profession that he doesn't have.

it's literally the attack helicopter bullshit with a coat of paint.

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Medussa posted...

what? it doesn't mean anything at all. its implication, however, is that trans people's identities are no more valid than his claims of a race, sex and profession that he doesn't have.

Do you think that implication is hateful, intolerant, or simply ignorant?


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only he knows. probably not ignorance, though, since he had more than enough opportunity to educate himself before posting.

and, i'm not playing 20 questions with you anymore. if you have a point to make, now is the time.

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Smackems posted...

That website seems like hot trash

AV Club used to be one of the most legit entertainment editorial/critique sites, then they merged with Kinja, and...well...

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This site/ Board/ Website is the poster example that people who call others Transphobes usually have no idea what they are talking about and are probably trolling.

Its like when they call everyone else Nazis over a difference of opinion.

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CADE FOSTER posted...

to be fair it is

Well, that's what Londoners think, anyway.

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Why does this article read like it was written by a 14 year old

I can practically feel the seething in every word and it's not pretty

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