Shamelessly propagated from friend_of_tofu at LiveJournal.

For those not in the know, there is a protest this Thursday evening outside the V & A which I would encourage you to attend if possible.

What’s it about, I hear you ask? Well.

Julie Bindel, somewhat-known Guardian journalist of some fame/infamy has (historically and recently) said some quite rude and unpleasant things about trans people, including but not limited to this and this and this. She was nominated for a Stonewall award, albeit not by Stonewall directly. Several people had conversations with Ben Summerskill, wherein it was pointed out that for the UK’s supposedly premier LGBT organisation to be honouring people who were repeatedly and unapologetically denying the reality and validity of the T was, well, not really cricket. The nomination was not withdrawn, of course.

So a few unimpressed people set up a protest outside the awards ceremony and a petition, via Facebook. So far, so ordinary.

Then, Julie Bindel not only remained quite unrepentant, but started trolling the Facebook group, being dramatically butthurt, wrote an absolutely solipsistic statement in which she claimed that the criticism she was receiving was lesbophobic (because there are No Trans Lesbians, capiche?), and was generally madder than a box of frogs, including suggesting that anybody who hadn’t complained about the Daily Mail previously being nominated had no right to complain about her now (or something).

But seriously; ignore the surrounding hilarity for a moment. The protest against Stonewall’s persistence over nominating Julie Bindel for an award is not just about a little meeja tiff, but about the responsibility of LGBT organisations to represent the people they claim, and are getting money, to represent, and not keep shafting them. Cisgendered bisexuals may recognise this problem and sigh. Personally, I think there are enough other problems with Bindel’s work (like her blinkered stance on prostitution) that she shouldn’t be getting any kind of journalistic award whatsoever; she is an embarrassment to feminists and lesbians generally, and I cringe to think that she might make even more people think supporting sex and gender equality equals bonkers conspiracy theories.

So; please come to the protest if you’re able. You don’t have to be trans, or LGBT at all, to show support. Thinking journalists should do some bloody research is quite enough!

Details below, for those who can’t do links. Bring friends. There may well be pub afterwards.

Date: Thursday, November 6, 2008
Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: Outside the Victoria & Albert Museum (Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL - nearest Tube South Kensington)