Comedian Sandi Toksvig, 65, hounded by brutal trolls for supporting Trans rights
Sandi Toksvig has found herself at the centre of a social media storm after speaking out in favour of trans rights.
The 65 year-old comedian and former Great British Bake Off presenter triggered an avalanche of so-called 'gender critical' anger on X (formerly Twitter) for saying she felt "distressed" by "people who call themselves 'radical feminists' but are anti-trans" in an interview with the i newspaper on Thursday.
"When the feminist movement started in the 60s and 70s, lesbians were often excluded, because we were told that we would make the movement less palatable. I have been excluded myself, so how could I do that to someone else? It fills me with rage", she added.
The article covered a range of topics including Toksvig's upcoming festive concert for the London Gay Men's Chorus and her campaign to remove unelected bishops from the House of Lords - but her words of support for the trans community were the ones picked up on.
One X user wrote: "I guarantee Sandi Toksvig is not as distressed as the women and kids who are sexually assaulted by trans women who are predatory men with a fetish / paedophiles."
Sandi Toksvig gets death threats for being gay and needed police at her wedding
Another put: "[Sandi Toksvig] lives and moves in a protective bubble of luvvies & TRA [trans rights activist] reinforcement. It cannot be a surprise to her that women & girls are afraid of 6' tall strangers in dresses who are men".
Others avoided age-old transphobic tropes and opted for some good old-fashioned misogyny instead, claiming Toksvig looked like "Tom Cruise in a nursing home" and accusing her of being a less-educated Stephen Fry "in a more comfortable waistcoat".
Amidst all the noise were LGBTQ+ people and their allies who took to the platform to praise Toksvig and call out the transphobic backlash. "Sandi Toksvig is a good person", a user wrote. "Not a surprise, but a nice confirmation". Another said sarcastically: "Of course the anti-trans lobby are going after I mean, what the hell would she know about being a woman? Or a feminist? Or a lesbian?"
"Sandi Toksvig sums up pretty well how I feel as a middle aged gay person," another revealed. "We all carry the pain of exclusion but the idea that those experiences would compel me to re-enact them on other people *in my community* is quite frankly obscene".
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