From The Observer UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2013/jan/20/the-big-issue-trans-burchill
Julie Burchill’s ill-informed rant added to the victimised community’s woes
The Observer, Saturday 19 January 2013
EB White once said: “Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.” On the basis of last week’s article (“Cut it out, you transsexuals”, Comment), Julie Burchill has taken this to be an axiom rather than a witticism.
Unfortunately, transphobia in the media has real-world consequences. Statistics on transphobic crime are currently still difficult to obtain as few large-scale studies have been undertaken, but what evidence there is strongly indicates that trans people are at much higher risk of casual violence and verbal abuse than the general population. Then, of course, there is everyday prejudice and marginalisation, highlighted for instance by the twitter hashtag #transdocfail, which records the medical community’s failure to carry out its duties to its trans patients.
If even a newspaper such as the Observer, which prides itself on its left-leaning principles and support for social justice issues, can publish transparently transphobic invective and call it journalism, then it is a worrying indictment of systemic prejudice in Britain today.
Dr Rachel Moss
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
The hostility towards trans people that Ms Burchill exhibited in her article was discrimination, no different from any other form of discriminatory conduct. It is unacceptable and rightly so. Ms Burchill peppered her article with insults, threats and misinformation. She resorted to name-calling and provocation and, in doing so, completely undermined any value to her piece.
As someone who works as a solicitor in the field of discrimination law, I am all too regularly struck by how damaging discriminatory comments can be, both to the individuals on the receiving end and to the basic principle that a tolerant society is a better one for all.
Continue reading at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2013/jan/20/the-big-issue-trans-burchill
