Liberal media 'fell victim to' pressure from Trans-rights groups | Hadley Freeman

“I did leave the Guardian because I was told I was not able to write about certain things...whether it was about gender or antisemitism.”
Hadley Freeman argues she lost journalistic freedom while working at The Guardian.
The Guardian did not wish to comment.
📻 Listen to Times Radio - www.thetimes.co.uk/radio
📍 Subscribe to our channel - / @listentotimesradio
🗞 Subscribe to The Times www.thetimes.co.uk/subscribe/...
📲 Get the free Times Radio app www.thetimes.co.uk/radio/how-...

[@diamondaircraft900]

Always loved her columns in the Guardian and still miss them.

[@stephenmcdonagh2795]

Well if you miss her columns from the Guardian and agree with her stance, why are you still buying the Guardian? If it's now portraying biological facts as ephemeral choices, then what beholds you to a paper you must know is so malleable in its beliefs? I've never once read a paper so filled with badly disguised hate, if it's not hating the working classes then it's someone or some thing it would sooner denounce than defend- dependent solely on what direction the wind is blowing that day.

[@desrtfox]

17:45 where they start talking about the pressure from trans-rights groups 24:18 key point - return to moderate, realistic view 25:25 US perspective

[@maggyvoll]

Hadley, I couldn’t agree more regarding the opposition between gender ideology and women’s rights. Thank you thank you thank you! I am 70 years old, old school feminist, and can’t fathom that being a woman is being reduced to having polished nails!

[@morganm4768]

Why do so many women do it then?

[@Coelacanth1]

So you're an old school rad fem of the second wave?

[@GeorgeGeorgeOnly]

@@Coelacanth1 ?

[@GeorgeGeorgeOnly]

Hi Maggy. My older sister's last boyfriend, (both in their late 60s) announced to her, after she moved in with him, that he was a cross dresser and probably Trans. This was a particular shock to my sister because suddenly she felt she didn't know him nor had she ever known him. And that I think is inarguable. But I think what astounded her was that he clearly had no idea of what it means to be a woman in her late 60s, because he wanted to dress like a slutty tarty teenager, and he looked dreadful. She hated it, which I can easily understand, not least because he was dishonest with her from the beginning, but also because he clearly didn't understand what he was doing, and that's aside the issue of Men hijacking women's rights. So I've found the Trans debate to be really quite unresolvable. On the one hand, I want people to be free and able to be whatever they want to be, but on the other hand sometimes there needs to be more consideration for those whose lives we impact upon. Happy new year.

[@Coelacanth1]

@@GeorgeGeorgeOnly Don't make the mistake of aligning fetishists with transwomen, for the two are not the same as it stands a 60 year old transwoman will dress as a 60 year old woman for it is all about passing not standing out to draw attention.

[@blotski]

To be honest up front I'm Jewish and pretty left wing. I abhor what Israel is doing in Gaza and I really can't wait for Netanyahu to go on trial for his various crimes. But I feel nervous about being Jewish now because those who are normally known for voicing their opposition to racism are being openly anti-Jewish despite their constant claims to be just anti-Israel/Zionist. It's often not what they say, it's what they don't say. Israel is guilty of crimes. But the worst oppressors of Arabs and Muslims are other Arabs and Muslims. It's the lack of widespread anger over the more than half a million Arabs killed in Syria, the hundreds of thousands killed and injured in Yemen, the tens of thousands of political prisoners in Egypt and Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. It's the lack of support for the opposition in Iran. The lack of interest in the Kurds, that other people denied a homeland in the Middle East but denied by the Turks and the Arabs. It's the years of muted criticism of ISIS and the Taliban, most of whose victims are other Muslims. But only Israel generates such fierce hatred. It's also the language used about Jewish immigration and the overall lack of awareness that what they are saying implies the Middle East is for one race alone and everyone else is just a load of immigrants. It's the new wave of support from 'indigenous' peoples in places like Canada and New Zealand clearly implying that Jews don't belong there and should just 'go home'. Imagine the left saying that about any other people.

[@alanwatterson2850]

"What-about-ism" doesn't absolve the far-right Zionists of war crimes. Prior to the massive slaughter of innocents in Gaza, descendants of the Palestinians who had lived in what was Palestine have spent generations in foreign refugee camps. Those lucky enough to still be living in their homeland have been subject to decades of oppression and land theft. And who was pouring funds into Hamas? Netanyahu, to undermine the Palestinian Authority's power base. The manufacture of the imaginary 'Israel' has been a disaster.

[@PHlophe]

Bruder, why use the adjective "Jewish" when its easier to use the noun *Jew*. I don't understand when it became both a problem and normalized to "tone down" the noun. its entirely bizarre to me.

[@jujutrini8412]

There has been widespread criticism of Saudi Arabia and what it is doing in Yemen. The same people that hate what has happened to the people in Yemen are the same people criticising Israel for what they are doing in Gaza. There has been widespread criticism of Iran, the Taliban, ISIS etc. You must have had your head buried under the sand! The same people that don’t want Britain to sell arms to the Saudis are the same ones who don’t want Britain to sell arms to Israel! Your implication that indigenous people are all left wing seems quite bizarre, almost trying to stereotype them! Many indigenous peoples can clearly see that Zionism is a colonialist project - which is precisely what the people who invented it wanted it to be. They said all this at the time! An indigenous person does not have to be left wing in order to identify with other occupied peoples of the world. Criticising people for deliberately ethnic cleansing is the right thing to do.

[@cjohnson3836]

Your post is nothing but whataboutism. What the Arab world chooses to message is irrelevant to the reality that by UN, US, and multiple western nations' (important because these are the nations propping up Israel) definitions, Israel is guilty of genocide. There are more Jewish people living happily and safely in the US than Israel. Israel is a failed state. Its the most dangerous place for Jews to be and for good reason, its a European colony started by European immigrants that decided to form terrorist groups in the 1920s and 30s to destroy the indigenous (yes, I'm using that word) population. Arabs killing each other is their own problem. Israel only exists due to western money and western weapons. That's the difference. And, no one has a right to an ethno-state homeland. You fail the "pretty left wing" test. Your Zionism is apparent. Ethno-states are a plague on this planet and have no place in the modern world.

[@ChickenNugNugz2]

​@@PHlopheI know what you're saying but that language has been associated with far right rhetoric for a long long time, and as such normal people naturally changed their language to differentiate themselves from the white nationalists and Supremacists

[@chriswestwood600]

She was a great loss to the Guardian.

[@latchmere100]

Toe rag paper.

[@stephenholmes1036]

The Grauniad , The most patronising, middle class, anti working class rag.

[@Cheeseatingjunlista]

@@latchmere100 Hows the Express doing "informing" you then?

[@carlnielsen3833]

She's an interesting and clearly a very intelligent, articulate woman. She's skilled in her craft of writing and a very good (verbal) story teller as well.

[@morganm4768]

Not really, just another feminist spreading misinformation, especially the [art about 'male violence'.

[@concernedrabbit9075]

Loved this interview which allowed this well spoken woman to speak openly.

[@bobblue_west]

and the Guardian? Speaker of total truths. I'm shocked I tell U, shocked.

[@seryozhasteve]

Interesting insight into the increasing suppression of off agenda journalism in this once revered newspaper.

[@lavienestpasunlongfleuvetr2559]

Which newspaper? The Guardian?

[@kieranparsons954]

I very rarely say how much I admire someone who I haven’t met, but Hadley reminds me a little bit of Karen Blixen, one of my favourite authors. What a wonderful, fascinating person Ms Freeman is.

[@chollyappleseed1969]

She's full of hate for men. She's as bad

[@Dimona_UK]

So you admire people you’ve never met loads but rarely say it. You probably should have kept quiet this time too. Openly admitting you look up to an idiot is a weird, weird flex.

[@kieranparsons954]

@@Dimona_UK seeing as it’s Christmas I’ll make a special effort. Like yourself more, like really, try.

[@Cheeseatingjunlista]

You've never heard of her before, but on the basis of one interview you now admire her? How shallow are you?

[@kieranparsons954]

@@Cheeseatingjunlista I’ve followed HF for years. How shallow are you to make such an inane assumption?

[@NickMusselle]

I agree with her argument about gender rights; no man who suddenly decides he is a woman should have access to female sports or changing rooms/ toilets and female establishments of any sort.

[@youtubeyoutube936]

But access to male only clubs no problem while mai taking female only clubs

[@andrewrobinson2565]

I can't imagine my trans daughter, who is 33, being accepted by men in a men's toilet. 😮

[@livelife5947]

@@andrewrobinson2565 Women’s toilets are for actual women only. They’re not a place for whoever feels uncomfortable peeing around men. That’s not our problem, trans people don’t get to impose their issues on us 🙄.

[@nyla2408]

@@youtubeyoutube936 Incel.

[@countesscable]

Absolutely. Men can choose to live as Women.. but they are NOT women and should not be allowed to invade our spaces.

[@Dmanz67]

I don't even bother trying to leave comments on the Guardian anymore. It's virtually impossible to say anything about a controversial topic without being censored.

[@AQuietNight]

Virtually impossible to say anything in the Guardian as they shut down their comments section. Unless they recently opened up comments again. I haven't read the Guardian in well over a year.

[@Coelacanth1]

It's rare for comments to be open on topics deemed controversial but when they rarely are one can manage to say what one needs to say by being clever with one's choice of words.

[@xcrockery8080]

A couple of developments in opposition to gender ideology in Australia: - medical professionals are calling out the risk of medical mistakes caused by not correctly recording sex on admission forms and medical records - psychologist professional body saying sex needs to be reported truthfully

[@Everyonehasanopinion]

People are afraid that showing support for antisemitism means showing support for Israel, which many of us do NOT, as much as showing support for Palestinians means showing support for H amas, which many of us do NOT. Believe it or not it’s possible to have absolutely no quarrel with Jews while also condemning the Israeli machine in the strongest possible terms. I’d be surprised if that’s where the majority also didn’t stand.

[@KH-aug]

Your comment perfectly illustrates my impression that most Western post-10/7 supporters of Palestinians who fancy themselves progressives, human rights defenders, are deeply ignorant of the region's history. More to the point though, you don't even understand *why* such socio-political knowledge matters. Supporters need to start making the effort to learn, and then learn some more, before spouting off at demonstrations. Otherwise they're not demonstrating what they think they are.

[@JaemanEdwards]

Exactly. She really lost me with that one. So if politicians don't march at an Israel rally then they're anti semitic ? She lost my respect straight away trying to relate being against Israel as being anti semitic. Most people couldn't give a fk whether they're Jews or anything else. We just hate aggressive repressive regimes who confine real middle eastern people like animals on their own land. The general opinion here among the people in New Zealand, besides of course the religious zealots, seems to be of support for Palestine. We don't let our government or media dictate what we think. And we understand what's really going on.

[@chrisf9377]

The Palestinians elected Hamas whose charter promises to eradicate Israel. It suggests that a large number of Palestinians also support the eradication of Israel. If you're supporting this group, as opposed to only the small number of Palestinians who want peace, then you would effectively be supporting Hamas.

[@LadyIarConnacht]

If Israel didn't have so much power over the media agencies of the world, there might be a little bit more honesty in media. Since they also indirectly control Hollywood, where are people supposed to hear the other side of the story?

[@roffel6876]

@Everyonehasanopinion I think I know what you're trying to say, but the first half of the first sentence is weird.

[@ja1756]

The world is gone nuts

[@goych]

Indeed, although it was never sane to

[@Jagaroth_]

Love the quote..."Keir Starmer has become sensible"🤣 But for how long I wonder.

[@MrMurph73]

A journalist with 2 essential, rare qualities - empathy and bravery.

[@DalePhoenix]

This lot can’t stop going on about trans people even on Christmas Day. Get a life!

[@jon6815]

You believe in Christmas??? get a life!

[@drc1247]

When males go into female toilets, go into female changing rooms, compete in female sports then yes we'll keep going on and on and on! A male can no more "identify" as a woman as a white person can "identify" as black.

[@chesterdonnelly1212]

​@@jon6815 You don't believe in Christmas? Get a life.

[@davidmurphy563]

I wonder how many trans people there are in the country. I've never met or seen one. Or know anyone who's met or seen one. Good job there are no stories affecting many people.

[@YaMumsSpecialFriend]

Live and let live, lovers.

[@fryuppe]

Hadley, a warm, humane, engaging, empathetic, funny and insightful journalist - everything The Guardian and others thought counted for nothing. Their loss, their diminishment; our enlightenment.

[@kieranparsons954]

👊absolutely

[@Malky5279]

I thought she was a typical establishment hack but I suspect I'll agree with her on this subject.

[@morganm4768]

@@Malky5279 She's just another feminist spreading misinformation.

[@Coelacanth1]

@@Malky5279 Why this subject and not others, for sure i only this subject but not others are you describing a position of prejudice?

[@Malky5279]

@@Coelacanth1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKi4lmpjaZKSirssi=PteUOYOlgaCZDFrZ Not sure you tube allows sharing of links in comments but one of many reasons is the importance of single sex spaces.

[@jonsevern]

Hadley Freeman - clearly a warm / kind person

[@patsyroberts3967]

Only because you believe the garbage she is peddling. Its a shame that the actual experts on gender agree that trans women are indeed women. Note she and other trans haters never mention that.

[@lutherblissett9070]

@@patsyroberts3967 THE expert on colours told me black is white, how could I possibly disagree?

[@patsyroberts3967]

@@lutherblissett9070 Are you saying we shouldn't trust experts? Ok, next time you need an operation get your local butcher to do it. Can't trust experts after all. Also, try harder next time. This is not an issue with experts, and this happens a lot these days, its an issue with people refusing to believe experts because their opinions count more. Crazy!

[@lutherblissett9070]

​@@patsyroberts3967 if you need an "expert on gender" to tell you what a man or a woman is then you've been successfully brainwashed. you need to relearn how to think for yourself.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Funny how nobody argues that trans-men aren't men...

[@andrewnelson3681]

It’s rude to upset women. It’s fine to upset men if they’re being silly.

[@kenrehill8775]

Odd that…..

[@patavinity1262]

People do all the time, what are you talking about? They aren't men. Men pretending to be women are arguably a greater harm to society though by forcing themselves into women's spaces. Women pretending to be men don't threaten anyone by forcing themselves into men's spaces. That's why there's less focus on them.

[@longrolstral]

They do, but far more men seem to want to get into women only spaces.

[@ironchariotrider7474]

It'd because men pretending to be women is far more dangerous to general society than a woman who pretends to be a man.

[@markr002]

Great interview. Thank you.

[@TonyStark-uu9us]

I have great faith in The Guardian for its news coverage, but Hadley was the only columnist I ever read.

[@ronnex5956]

The Guardian is dead. It's now a feminist-extrmist leftist cringe factory

[@mobsiesixsixsix9785]

@@ronnex5956 Hey if it keeps you away it's not so bad.

[@jeff6660]

A person's sexual identity should be their own business and nobody else's. Period. And if this boils down to what bathroom they can use then make all bathrooms unisex and allow one person at a time in them. Obviously we would need enough of them of course.

[@TonyStark-uu9us]

Inspirational

[@ciaran1988]

What is this obsession with trans issues lately....in need of a distraction eh

[@redMaple_QC]

As a man I am shocked how women have been treated by the gender identity movement. This is beyond ridiculous that a man can claim to be a woman based on his feeling.

[@nelsonc6173]

It's not a feeling. It's gender dysphoria an actual medical condition. And it affects both genders not just females. Sexual identity, as science is only beginning to discover, goes beyond the physiology of a person and perhaps is rooted far further in our DNA which is subject to extreme dysfunction as evidenced by so many diseases, illnesses and deformities that happen in birth.

[@redMaple_QC]

@@nelsonc6173 I know all that. Nevertheless it's crazy that a trans, especially men, should expect to go into women's bathroom or participate in women's competitive sports. By pushing too far it's going to backfire on the whole movement. Bruce "Caitlyn" Jenner was named "Glamour Woman of the year" in 2015. That's a slap in the face to all women. I'm now a "cis" man. Whatever. There is so many gender division now that it's creating social division for nothing.

[@azimuth5620]

@@nelsonc6173 there are no medical conditions that make a man a woman. People cannot become the opposite sex no matter what they are diagnosed with

[@krackerman3628]

They don't expect that - although it would be safer for them to do that that go into a bathroom with you. @@redMaple_QC

[@justmy2cents652]

@@nelsonc6173 Wow, you swallowed the bs wholesale. Maybe get some actual information beyond your bubble with this pseudo science narrative. "Trans" people were for the most part just (fetishistic) transvestites, then AGPs, then HSTS - probably with internalized homophobia. Now it's for a good part confused kids: Have body issues? You're trans! You're gender nonconforming? You're trans! Same sex attracted? You're trans! In the past around 80% of people with "gender disphoria" (was called different then) could solve their issues without long term medical interventions. The (very rare) rest I would place on an equal setting like people who need their limbs cut off to feel "whole". The only reason this nonsense is being normalized and glorified is bc of the way more numerous fetishistic men. Mens psyche/sexuality has always been and will always be a strange space.

[@jacobite1017]

If Trans women were real woman then why the "trans" part at all?

[@lutherblissett9070]

It's a bit of a clue, like the pseudo in pseudoscience.

[@dmgk3707]

As much as I like The Times podcasts, journalists interviewing journalists about journalism is getting very choice to disappearing up your own fundament.

[@rosalindchurcher8028]

How refreshing to hear the geart of this lady. A rare thing and she should be applauded.

[@andrewwallwork9257]

I don't know why they spent the first half of the interview talking about anything but what the video thumbnail said that the video would be about.

[@concrete-disco]

clickbaited

[@TVstardom]

Great interview. Liked the discussion about a journalist's need to get the interview right. A fair and honest account about a person's life that one shares that may be too sensitive, painful and controversial to address . A good interview, for me, is one that's a human to human connection. You ladies just demonstrated how to do it.

[@hammersmithbridge9115]

So Ms Freeman has bought Starmer's line that he has changed his view - thought she was down as an astute journalist

[@Coelacanth1]

There is not a lot of trust for Starmer in the Trans Community.

[@Torquemadia]

Why would you ever have thought this? She had no problem with the outright censorship of anyone criticising the institutional misandry inherent in a lot of positions in the Guardian, she was all in favour of censorship then.

[@janaka861]

I am a totally leftest Berkeley California old hippie - 68 - and thank you for your voice. I think the trans movement is fabulous BUT they are not women and forcing your ideology on me is wrong. No you should not be competing with women, you should not be allowed a special place in women’s issues. Go be who you are BUT not who you are not.

[@morebaileyskim]

Amazing you have lived so many years and still think you have the credibility to give anyone advice on how to live their life and the hubris to dictate to someone “who they are”

[@sandman4663]

⁠@@morebaileyskim your momma gave you a big mouth. Not a big brain. Then again, I didn’t expect much else from someone who favorites a Zumba class LOL

[@TetsugakuSan]

@@morebaileyskimso you can say what people are or are not, but someone else can. Ironic right?

[@IndigoPath]

She helped create the golem that ultimately turned on her so you’ll have to pardon my lack of sympathy. Her only commonality with her lifelong opponents is that trans women are really just men. She’s abandoned by her side and loathed by the rest of sane humanity.

[@leftfootforward1040]

Going into 2024 can we please put this ridiculous topic to bed. Stop pandering to peoples mental health issues by agreeing to there outragous claims of self identity and expectations that the rest of humanity should jump on the deranged band wagon of confusion and delusion.

[@Dimona_UK]

Yeah, she’s proving her points garbage. Leave it to the dr’s and those people trained and studied in the area. Get it out of ignorant peoples mouths. Totally agreed.

[@Kamisama77]

That issue isn't mental one Its about hormone. Btw its none of our business 'cos we're neutral

[@boogiemcsploogie]

We're up against a billion dollar medical industry. This won't stop until Pharma can't profit from it....which might be never

[@TheStephaneAdam]

So it's okay if I can call you a girl and put "miss" in front of your name from now on?

[@tedcrilly46]

Its an easy ride for unoriginal writers with space to fill. Going to be hearing this noise for years. Unfoetunately.

[@NegativeMass85]

Since Hadley is a fan of MJF, I'd love to tell her my "Michael J Fox story" -- I met him on the set of Family Ties at Paramount Studios in the summer of 1983. The show was just taking off in the US. He was a bit of a flirt, chatted with us in between takes. I was 15 and he was still dating Nancy McKeon (I met Justine Bateman and Michael Gross too). Big thrill for a teenager. Great fun!

[@mitchellconnop2000]

I like her persona

[@charlesyork7141]

If the Guardian does not 'report' then surely it isn't a newspaper!

[@rebeccaco65]

Who’s saying the Guardian aren’t reporting something? ‘Opinion’ isn’t news.

[@stephenholmes1036]

The Grauniad for the establishment by the establishment an awful rag

[@StillAliveAndKicking_]

Is the Daily Mail a newspaper? Both publish news that fits their political leanings, both are biased, both publish articles that some consider dishonest.

[@charlesyork7141]

@@rebeccaco65 So newspapers just report facts? Grow up!

[@mobsiesixsixsix9785]

@@stephenholmes1036 Name one that's better.

[@RobertJonesWightpaint]

The trouble with the Guardian was the departure of Rusbridger, perhaps its best editor. Editorial standards since then have plummeted: they may still be higher than those of most other British newspapers, but you expected that the Guardian would retain its more clear-eyed approach - and it hasn't.

[@mobsiesixsixsix9785]

It's way to pro Israel.

[@alanabowker1363]

The wider movement of silencing all the women who dared to speak up for women's rights. (Thanks Canada for having our back.)

[@JaemanEdwards]

Canada is the laughing stock of the world. Didn't you know that ?

[@Coelacanth1]

It wasn't trans women who destroyed women's sex based rights with regards to abortion in the US, it was in fact the very men whom women are allying with to oppose trans women.

[@smurfhits5688]

Exactly what ive been saying for 20 years a trans man is not a man

[@GeorgeGeorgeOnly]

17:52 > This is a very fair and important point. Because, also, what does feeling like a man mean? What does feeling like anything mean? I need to know. To be a man or a woman has to mean more than the cloths they ware and how they look or think that they feel. Doesn't it? Speaking as a transhuman, because I have transitioned from a different species, I have found myself thinking long and hard about what being a human means. But in the end, all I have been looking for is an answer to the question of, What does it mean to be anything? Like, what did it mean to be the species before I transitioned? I'd love to hear anyone's reactions to this comment. Reply, please!

[@maxthemagition]

The Prostate says it all.

[@VioletJewel1729]

haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate, we shake it off. shake it off.

[@deadshot8077]

24:44 “they can live AS a woman” - what a meaningless statement. How exactly does one “live as a woman”? You either ARE one (no matter how you dress or what your hobbies are) or you AREN’T.

[@goych]

Yeah maybe, but we’re unconscious creatures, so we don’t really know what we are and what we really want, until we do. So if you’re triggered by folk discovering these things undoubtedly it means you haven’t got those yet.

[@Horus71]

Great interview.

[@shooster5884]

Maybe people don't distinguish between a Zionist and a Jewish person ... would that account for some anti semitism? I asked someone that only today... where did anti semitism come from in the first place? They couldn't answer that anymore than I can!

[@sthompson1000]

We need more people to stand up against this "gender identity" nonsense.

[@ClannCholmain]

😂 Are you feeling oppressed?

[@sthompson1000]

No, why would I?@@ClannCholmain

[@ClannCholmain]

@@sthompson1000 get on with your life then.

[@sthompson1000]

Do you have a valid point to make?@@ClannCholmain

[@ClannCholmain]

@@sthompson1000 if you’re personally not affected by this fake outrage, what are you fighting against?

[@johngrant5448]

Why do so many American females have male first names?

[@nigelhaywood9753]

She's great but she ended up giving lip service to ideas that she doesn't fully believe in. Why were there mainly Jews on an antisemitism march? Come on! The fact that she defends Israel by not mentioning, not even hinting at the genocide being committed in Gaza shows where her sympathies lie... with the apartheid state of Israel, a position she shares with Maureen Lipman who openly states that the lives of Palestinians is cheaper than that of Israelis. I won't condemn her loyalty but I condemn the fact that she doesn't apply the clear objective mind that she has for so many other issues, also to the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict. In the case of someone of her intelligence this strikes me as hypocrisy.

[@OrangeNash]

There isn't a genocide being committed in Gaza. Nor war crimes. Not by Israel, anyway. Check the actual internationally agreed definition of those terms. The only war crimes are being committed by Hamas. And it is Hamas that openly admits it wants to commit genocide on the jews.

[@desgoulding7154]

Very informative video. Many thanks for sharing 😮😊

[@spacechannelfiver]

I'm a transwoman, I dont have that shared biolgical or social experience that a woman has. I cant, thats impossible for me to have. I can try to show some empathy for that from a position of shared experience. But lets not be reductive, i'm very definitely not a man.

[@jordizee]

You're certainly not a man, but you are male.

[@coreydolan3239]

You’re delusional.

[@livelife5947]

Why can’t you just say you’re trans? Why add in woman which implies that you’re female, which you’re NOT. I don’t want to share my spaces with blokes even if they’re pretending to be women. There are lots of r*pe & DV survivors who need all female spaces. Trans rights have completely eroded women’s rights 😡.

[@Joley964]

You don’t have any shared experience with women because you are a man.

[@davidsmith5523]

A tree is not a man either. Which is why it is known as... a tree.

[@VerteProductions]

In the that men haven't? Really? Heard of a guy called Graham Linehan?

[@stephenholmes1036]

Correct

[@johnmunro4952]

18:30 oh I think it is.

[@Alvedrotten]

Even the headline of this clip says so, they are TRANS women, not women.

[@reaceness]

Blonde women are not women because they are BLONDE women. Tall women are not women because they are TALL women. White women are not women because they are WHITE women. Etc.

[@gavinmc5285]

identity is a funny ol' game. some say it's about life and death. others think it's more important than that.

[@alexy9124]

When will people get it. It is not about freedom of of anything is a business decision. If the reader don't want to read about it then you stop writing it that it.

[@JaemanEdwards]

You surely can't be this naive ? You obviously live in la la land.

[@Coelacanth1]

@@JaemanEdwards I don't know if you are aware of how an online newspaper gauges reader's interest in what those they employ say, but it goes like this, it's all to do with the number of clicks the subject attracts. What else is in the mix is the number of complaints thy get.

[@JaemanEdwards]

@@Coelacanth1 Its so much more subversive than that. You don't even understand. These media outlets are political mouthpieces. This is a directive from higher ups. Mainstream media has always worked like that. They seek to control the narrative.

[@MasticinaAkicta]

Get ready to be cancelled... I mean it is 2023 you can't SAY these things. But then again, something is changing.. something in the air.

[@Everyonehasanopinion]

I miss the days when there was men and women, and they didn’t try and claim that they were a stapler.

[@ironchariotrider7474]

Hey man you don't understand my lived experience! Do you know what it's like to walk around pretending to be human when all I wanna do is join two pieces of paper at the corner...? Sigh

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

I believe that's only Rob Schneider.

[@johnthecloud]

The issue with antisemitism is that Israel does its best to conflate religion, race, and politics so that you can't criticise one without the other. A lot of what is reported as antisemitism is actually antizionism, and anti Israel sentiment - which is caused by the appalling way Israel is currently collectively punishing millions of people. If you stand up against that you are called a Hamas/terrorist supporter. You are somehow not allowed to condemn Israel as well as condemning Hamas - it has to be one or the other. Combine that with very one-sided and biased reporting by a media that is run by powerful zionists (a simple truth that most major newspapers have zionists at the top) and you have a perfect storm. If zionists create this situation where they willfully blur race, religion, and politics, then you you're going to get this sort of thing happening.

[@hurstmitchell6392]

I am never sure what ‘feeling like a woman’ actually means. How do these people know? They could just be feeling their actual personality, end of.

[@placidochan9702]

It’s quite easy to explain what it feels like being a man? So of course a women can explain her feelings.

[@warframeees8013]

@@placidochan9702not really

[@seawolfswimming]

​​@@placidochan9702 Baloney. Each person only knows their own subjective experience. Describing something so complex and abstract can not be the basis for civil rights demands, especially when the sought-after "rights" are at the expense Women. We have objective, observable reality on the other side. Feeling scared, helpless, confused and used are feelings that Women have when they see a man in a Woman's safe space. Those are feelings. They are caused by an observable reality- a man bringing danger. "Feeling like" a man or woman isn't an emotion, it's a concept, created to justify a distorted and disordered view of the world.

[@col.hertford9855]

@@seawolfswimminghow are they at the expense of anyone. So by your logic women should not have gained rights as they are at the expense of men?

[@janegardener1662]

@@col.hertford9855 Lia Thomas should not have been allowed to participate in women's sports at the elite level. She "won" the women's NCAA swimming trophy in 2022. Hundreds of women were directly affected, not to mention their parents, who drove them to swim practice for 12 years only to find that their daughters' prizes were *stolen* by a man.

[@nigelhaywood9753]

The antisemitism label is being stretched beyond its possibilities. There are Jews all over the world but there has also been a campaign led by Netanyahu and Likud, as well as Israel in general that wants to equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. It seems that it's difficult to define what antisemitism is these days. But it isn't difficult to define what genocide is and that is, in the expressed opinions of Netanyahu's government, what Israel is carrying out now against the people in Gaza and the West Bank. This is the reason that there has been a spike in antisemitism. That's not to justify it but the policies and opinions of Sunak and Starmer do not express the opinions of the majority of the British. This imbalance is the elephant in the room and undoubtedly the main cause of this upsurge in antisemitism. But as I said before the term is abused and applied in a one-size-fits-all manner. If we do that, then surely we can stretch the term further to include the Arab people as well, they are after all 'Semites'. The Semitic people are all those who have roots in the Middle East.

[@JaemanEdwards]

You nailed it. Most people are fine with trans people being themselves but are against trans in sport. So we all automatically get labelled transphobes. People who don't like the way Israel confine real middle eastern people like animals on their own land with their aggressive repressive regime are automatically labelled anti semitic. Most of us against Israel couldn't give a fk about whether they are Jews or anything else. We just hate countries like that. Here in New Zealand, apart from the christian religious zealots, the general support seems to be for Palestine. We think for ourselves in this country and we understand what's really going on.

[@harveybrown37]

She's a dull luvvie

[@StratsRUs]

Go where the money is

[@gavinmc5285]

the bank?

[@alexjaybrady]

One of the few billion people brave enough to be transphobic online 😮

[@Coelacanth1]

What one can say about anything anywhere always did depend on who you were and what backing you had.

[@mikedee171]

I have no problem with Jews, I do have problems with how the Israeli state prosecutes it’s struggle to remove Palestinians from the West Bank and Palestine. You can hold those ideas simultaneously.

[@youtubeyoutube936]

Do you have similar struggles elsewhere? Ethnically cleansed Germans from Eastern Europe Italians from Yugoslavia Jews from Arab countries the Kurds asssyrian Tibetans? Persecution of Christians I Muslim countries?

[@danielcallum8015]

Just like with me Micheal Jackson looked better black #fact

[@stephenholmes1036]

Ha ha well said

[@danielcallum8015]

Dint teach what I have and dint teach trans

[@rogerforsman5064]

How about trans men?

[@ribbonsofnight]

They seem to not invade men's spaces or dominate men's sports. The suffering caused by them being encouraged to think they're in the wrong body and avoid puberty is worrying though. Treating the comorbidities properly would help.

[@rogerforsman5064]

@@ribbonsofnight "invade men's spaces or dominate men's sports" How many individuals are we talking about that dominate women sports?

[@PHlophe]

@@rogerforsman5064 they really imagine them in the hundreds.

[@rogerforsman5064]

@@PHlophe So not that many then spread out on all the Teams and different sports! Made up problem that needs a made up solution! And they really like small gov! No DOJ, FBI or FDA but they still want to know what you do in the bedroom!

[@ribbonsofnight]

@@rogerforsman5064 Fallon Fox, Will Thomas, Austin Killips (among too many others in cycling), Laurel Hubbard. (I don't want to knock Castor Semenya because 5α-Reductase 2 deficiency while it certainly doesn't make her a female does mean she was unaware of the reason for her advantage) You only have to look at Laurel Hubbard, an athlete who ceased lifting in 2001 only to win gold at Pacific Games and Commonwealth Championships at over 40 years of age in 2019 to see how easy it could be for a man in his 20s to dominate. 20 years ago we couldn't point to a single man in competitive women's sports. Hopefully in 10 years this will be true again because rules only allowing women in women's sports have reached a lot of sports. The number of very athletic men who have "transitioned" before an age where their best athletic ability was past is very low. Their impact on sports is outsized compared to their numbers. If recent rule changes hadn't happened and the writing wasn't on the wall we would be seeing even more.

[@danielcallum8015]

I looked at trans. Did research I was bored thsts it

[@andrewpease3688]

Deltic class locomotives are really interesting

[@danielcallum8015]

Can’t have kids after treatment I would not teach it #fact

[@Caldera01]

Then how come there are pregnant trans people???

[@ribbonsofnight]

@@Caldera01 they're women, who haven't done much to their bodies, impregnated by men I suspect. Exactly how much some surgeries and hormones prevent pregnancy isn't something that seems to be researched a lot. There will be some surgeries that make woman infertile. The ones who become pregnant haven't had those.

[@Caldera01]

@@ribbonsofnight Except there are trans couples that have gone through surgeries that still got pregnant. Quick google search gave such examples such as Syven and Tori, both have gone through surgeries and they got 2 children by now. Then there's another such case in Kerala, India. You gonna move the goalpost even further somehow, or these don't count for some reason, or something? Mental gymnastics maybe?

[@ribbonsofnight]

@@Caldera01 I'll stand by exactly what I said in my post. If you read my post it's not inconsistent with the idea that not all surgeries are the same.

[@Caldera01]

@@ribbonsofnight Can you name which trans affirming surgery sterilizes a person?

[@nickyd922]

Who cares? There are more people eating in soup kitchens

[@mobsiesixsixsix9785]

Yeah well they need to distract from brexit don't they...... Is there any rag that isn't a government propaganda outlet?

[@StillAliveAndKicking_]

Because people’s lives are being destroyed by the gender ideology nutjobs. Look at Graham Linehan, one of our greatest comedy writers who cannot get work, and is struggling to survive financially. Most people keep quiet out of fear.

[@livelife5947]

It’s a women’s rights issue. Women make up 51% of the population, homelessness represents probably around 1%. Besides, it’s not a competition. We can discuss both, but this particular interview is about *WOMEN*

[@amadeuz8161]

Before even watching. Feeling like a woman is not the same as being a female. We can talk about the question that what is considered a "woman" but never mix that with what a male and female is. The day we can completely change the insides and the genes of a person that day we can talk about that, but as long as its only the surface you can never convince me. Like mother nature created us different and we do not know how to change that yet, evolution gave us roles and those we can change. Like you can dress like a man or a woman, you can even replace the parts to become the other but you can never become a male if you were born a female or the other way around. Not yet at least, never say never but that day ain't here yet so "nasty words" and follow the rules that science tells us until it says something else when we advance in it. No you are not a cat even if you feel like one, yes you feel like a cat and can copy its behavior but you will never become a cat like we are not even the same branch of species and no law in the world would allow me to treat you as one. Like you do know that you loose all your human rights if you really would become a cat and then only have the same rights as a cat?!? If this is removed for not agreeing with everyone then I fear our free world is in trouble.

[@amadeuz8161]

I might seem harsh but in a selfish way I really think "The more males that feel like females and change themselves, the less competition there is out there for me so if 50% of all males turned trans it would probably be accepted for men to have more than 1 wife plus that the males have turned em selves into something the ones loosing can relieve emselves with so that they dont bother me and my harem". I know it sounds rough but that would be the reality if 50% of the males would turn themselves into women and we that stay true get a much greater chance of being able to reproduce. Males have always competed for females so when males willingly gives up its not a negative thing for me, but they will not be able to give me offspring so don't even bother trying to trick me. Edit: I know I used the "feel like females" because that is the problem I have with it. I am ok with them feeling like women.

[@julianmorrisco]

Nobody’s gonna remove it. Don’t get hysterical.

[@wyntog]

I was with you until you started talking about people wanting to be cats. Do people really want to identify as cats though? I can't help but feel that it dilutes an important message about male\female rights.

[@Dimona_UK]

Stopped bothering to read when it became clear it was written by an idiot bigot hungover on Christmas morning.

[@amadeuz8161]

@@julianmorrisco YT is not the same as it was. Like I am Karelian so you can guess my kind comments about Russia that has been removed :D Never been hate but a lot of anger that boils back up, yes. Even YT links have been removed and content creators keeps saying its not them removing.

[@nathaniel4334]

This interviewer is excellent. Seen a few of hers now, and they are great. Very human

[@LlewynDaviesTheThird]

Great interview

[@ExiledGypsy]

I am sorry but she is not being even handed and that is at least precieved as overgeneralisation, and losing sight of false equivalences. There was a time when women insisted on entering men only places and I don't see why that should have been any different and yet is continues to be. There is even a lot more of male on male violence but that seems to be accepted as the way nature is and is never even accounted for. This inability to see the other side's point of view makes demands and criticsm sound insensitive and unjustifiable and it is if often the roots of conflicts and divisions. If I knew for sure that the person was not guilty of ignorance and/or lack of awareness, her statements could be defended as they are put forward here but when I don't know this person that is too much to ask. Just as much as a man, by simply putting a dress on, cannot understand what it is like to be woman, I don't think women can understand what it is like to be a man and yet we keep hearing otherwise. Then there is a need for relative focus that is imposed by change of circumstances and level of self awareness. If that change of focus is not demonstrated then conclusion will need to be that there is a lack of awareness. While some might go too far and deny the savagery of Hamas of which I am doubtful (therefore makes her sound contrived), the ratio of the people being killed and lives being destroyed together the shameless beligerency of Israel in the face of world wide condemnation justifiably requires a change of focus. There is a difference between atisemetism and condeming Israel's policies. This persistent lack of recognition of such an obvious issue demonstrates an undeniable intellectual deficiency that I find hard to sympathise with from an educated person. Majority of Jews still live outside Israel and those who arrive in Israel often leave given the chance. If you are going to complaint about a certain point of view then unless you are really unaware of your own biases then the obligation is on you especially as a journalist to put in the effort to be even-handed. Otherwise I am afraid people can't defend someone whose only imaginable defence seems to be oversight and insensitivity.

[@danielcallum8015]

Ipp transformed to EDS

[@darrenbayliss3194]

You don't say 🤣

[@robinmcewan8473]

Trans ‘women’ are not women, is that really a controversial statement? The trans people I have known were always sensitive to other people’s point of view.

[@ejtattersall156]

I'm sorry, but a feminist can't complain about being denied women-only spaces when feminists have gutted and emptied out male-only spaces for decades. You can't have it both ways.

[@andrewhubbard4222]

Wow, it's impossible to respect this person.

[@menow7903]

Thank you Hadley. I hadn't realised you'd left the Guardian. I still read it online but now I definitely won't be a subscriber. I believe something dangerous is happening to women like yourself who say 'something is wrong here'. The visceral level of verbal violence perpetrated against women who raise objections is deeply telling in and of itself. We must continue to object, to defend our spaces whatever the cost.

[@Coelacanth1]

The price of equality is the right to be treated like everyone else.

[@user-jf3lo6ss2i]

@@Coelacanth1 We want equity, not equality.

[@Coelacanth1]

@@user-jf3lo6ss2i Equity , in what respect?

[@jimthompson9370]

As a leftist, she’ll presumably end up at The Times?

[@danielcallum8015]

I think it’s estrogen blockers you need for women

[@gavinmc5285]

let's put the men on pause

[@markreilly52]

Remember Brianna.

[@johnross2924]

Are trans men real men?

[@janebennetto5655]

No. You have to be female to identify as a trans man as you have to be male to identify as a trans woman.

[@stephenholmes1036]

No

[@johnross2924]

@@stephenholmes1036 I know that. We never here anyone saying otherwise though. The focus is always on trans women.

[@bogarte7185]

@@johnross2924because transmen are not a threat to men in mens spaces. Transwomen are a threat to women in womens spaces.

[@silver4831]

​@@bogarte7185Why are they a threat?

[@AquaTofana.]

old news

[@marytataryn5144]

I can hardly hear what she is saying at first? she seems to be mumbling a bit because she is talking so fast. I guess she's nervous, so I want to lift her up, but It's difficult to follow .

[@kenboro4842]

We all really know that they are not men to women ladies and we all know the women who become men are men its people playing dress up and then all people have to act like the movie with danny kaye in it ! Oh look at the king the king the king the king And we all have to pretend ooow shes a lady isn't she good isn't she grand she's the prettiest in in all the land and also the offer way round 😂but whats funny is other way round the mans the queen and women are king😂😂😂😂

[@shannonjane7373]

I'm from Canada and don't know anything about the history of the Guardian--but it reads to me as extreme/hysterical--like Fox but on the other wing of crazy. I wasn't impressed. Is it viewed as moderate in the UK?

[@mereditharmstrong4630]

TERF

[@livelife5947]

You say that like it’s an insult lol. Silly gender confused rabbit.

[@sarahsue42]

Tired of Explaining Reality to Fuckwits

[@andrewrobinson2565]

😢I've just had my Christmas dinner with 5 people, 3 of whom happen to be trans women, 2 of whom were cis women and the only cis man was me. So there 😂🎉.

[@livelife5947]

Your point?

[@andrewrobinson2565]

​​@@livelife5947 One of the trans women has a new vacina, just back from surgery in Thailand. The trans women I was with are women who don't have ovaries and can't have children. Neither can my wife, who was also at the table. Trans women are women to anyone who has the compassion and empathy to say they are. Some people don't have the empathy or compassion. That's my point. Merry Christmas 🎄🎅🏿🎄.

[@livelife5947]

@@andrewrobinson2565Empathy & compassion have nothing to do with acknowledging the fact that a man can’t simply become a woman by saying so, popping pills & getting cosmetic procedures. You clearly think nothing of women if you think all we are is a body part that can be purchased in Thailand.

[@silver4831]

​@livelife5947 From all the comments it's clear you are just an unhappy woman trying to blame everybody else for you being so foul minded.

[@sleekblackroadster]

Ignorant drivel

[@christinalaboy5527]

They arent

[@magnusbooth4719]

Has Hadley Freeman considered that the guardian didn't want her articles on gender because, as is quite apparent from the interview, she has nothing informative to say on that subject, instantly talking about men in womens sports as if that is an issue we all have to care about.

[@TetsugakuSan]

But if you enjoy sport, and you understand the competition intrinsic in sport, and the intrinsic differences to someone who has , or has not, gone through puberty as a male - then you really do care about it. It’s important.

[@magnusbooth4719]

@@TetsugakuSan Yes, and when I talk about climate change I was start with the unfair effects it has on my daughters hockey team, that is totally normal and how we always do discussions... but the guardian doesn't write about that because of pressure groups.

[@johnricercato740]

Neither of your posts make much sense but the implication of one remark stood out: we should only mention issues ‘everyone’ has to care about? Another was your assumption that she was kicked out of the Guardian - she left because she and Suzanne Moore (and probably others) felt that only one side of the debate was allowed to be represented. If you have ever posted comments on their website you should know that the little commissars who police the discussions don’t permit any dissent on controversial subjects.

[@magnusbooth4719]

@@johnricercato740 Since you complain that I said »she was kicked out of the Guardian« which I clearly haven't written, I find it hardly surprising that my posts made little sense to you.

[@JaemanEdwards]

​@@magnusbooth4719You make zero sense Magnus. Better hope a trans boy doesn't injure your girl. You'll look really dumb then.

[@OmegaFart]

Hahahahahhshahahhahhaaaa 😂😂 Good luck 🤙🤙

[@olehaugan9555]

The start was good. It felt like they were generalizing and strawmaning a bit towards the end though.

[@nimbuskhannk627]

It is a pitty Hadley Freeman feels the need to be a misandrist in order to fight trans-rights groups stomping of women rights. If she thinks women are disproportionately canceled compared to men when facing those bully mobs, she should go out, buy and read "Tough Crowd", by Graham Linehan. First thing to learn before engaging in combat?...Don't alienate your allies.

[@errin-mp1zy]

Even Graham admits that women are treated far worse than men when it comes to speaking up about this issue.

[@roffel6876]

Feminism is a movement that is inherently against men. Most people know that, which is why most people don't call themselves feminists, while at the same time they are for equality (of opportunity) for everyone. Activists always argue one-sided. In politics, there is no need for a balanced view. Did it ever occur to any feminist that men might also have real grievances about their role they need to play in the world? And I don't mean male CEOs and male party leaders. Most of us do not hold any positions of power. No, we men need to shut up, it is said, and deal with our own problems, which we apparently caused ourselves. And now that another activist group found a way to turn their ideology and tactics against them, I should sympathize? You made your bed, now lie in it.

[@redMaple_QC]

There is some topics that always generate a lot of argumentative comments. Musk, Trump, and wokeness for instance.

[@gavinmc5285]

is yokeness like wokeness but with added slavery?

[@Coelacanth1]

I fail to understand what problem the oppressed can have with progress.

[@HandsomeHussein]

The meat of the subject is discussed at the 17:00 mark. Too much preamble but great interview otherwise.

[@jonstewart464]

Happy Terfmas!

[@drc1247]

Happy Transmas!

[@ramel684]

Ans a happy Turd Eating Rat F**ckermas to you too 🎄🎄🎄

[@livelife5947]

Disrespecting women will get you nowhere. Nobody likes a misogynist 👀.

[@jon9625]

Thank goodness there are still sensible people of good will that speak their minds