The Bafta-winning creator of Father Ted has slammed the BBC for making him look like he had ‘gone insane’ during an interview about transgender issues in 2020.
Graham Linehan, 54, whose writing credits also include The IT Crowd, has been attacked by trans activists for his defence of women’s rights and speaking of the importance of biological sex.
Mr Linehan appeared on the BBC’s Newsnight programme in 2020 to air his concerns about the actions of trans activists and the NHS‘s controversial Tavistock child transgender clinic.
But the short interview with presenter Sarah Smith quickly descended into acrimony when the journalist criticised him for increasing the ‘toxicity’ of the debate.
She also claimed he had compared treating young people who are confused about their gender identity with ‘Nazi concentration camps’.
Speaking in an interview on GB News with MailOnline columnist Dan Wootton earlier this week, Mr Linehan said Newsnight had conducted a ‘hit piece’ and tried to continue ‘trans activists’ campaign to destroy my life’.
He said they had done this by ‘making me look like I had gone insane’ and claimed they treated him like he was conspiracy theorist David Icke.
Mr Linehan also mentioned how LGBT news website Pink News had written ‘more than 75’ articles about him since he began speaking out about the issue.
However, the star added that he has since been ‘vindicated’ following news that the Tavistock clinic will shut its doors after a damning report found it was ‘not safe’ for children.
The Bafta-winning creator of Father Ted has slammed the BBC for making him look like he had ‘gone insane’ during an interview about transgender issues in 2020. Above: Speaking in an interview on GB News with MailOnline columnist Dan Wootton earlier this week, Mr Linehan said Newsnight had conducted a ‘hit piece’ and tried to continue ‘trans activists’ campaign to destroy my life’
Mr Linehan appeared on the BBC’s Newsnight programme in 2020 to air his concerns about the actions of trans activists and the NHS’s controversial Tavistock child transgender clinic
Mr Linehan had been heaped with praise for his comic creations, which also include The IT Crowd.
Father Ted was first broadcast in 1995 and ran for three series to great critical acclaim.
But he faced the ire of activists when he began airing his belief that biological sex is more important than the controversial idea that an individual can choose a ‘self-identified’ gender.
The latter has seen biological men demand the right to use women’s lavatories and changing rooms.
Mr Linehan also claimed that criticising transgender activists had led to job offers being withdrawn and said his wife’s home address had been published online.
Police have also visited Mr Linehan twice after complaints were made by well-known transgender activists about the views he had expressed.
In an article for The Mail on Sunday in 2020, he wrote: ‘We are in a world where male sexual offenders in bad wigs assault female prisoners, where rape centres are defunded because they won’t admit men and where a bloke in a full beard tells schoolchildren that he’s a lesbian and we’re informed with venomous aggression that we may not talk about any of it.’
In the Newsnight interview, Mr Linehan complained about how feminists who have spoken out about trans issues, including academic Professor Kathleen Stock, had been targeted by protests.
The feminist eventually left her job at the University of Sussex after activist students carried out a ‘bullying and harrassment’ campaign against her.
Presenter Ms Smith, who is now the BBC’s North America Editor, claimed that a ‘lot of people’ said the language the comic had used and the ‘dismissive terms’ he ‘banded about’ had ‘increased the toxicity of the debate’.
She highlighted how he had compared people in the trans debate to ‘speaking out against Nazis’.
When he said children are being ‘experimented on with puberty blockers’, which have since been branded as ‘harmful’ by some medics’, Ms Smith added: ‘You’re not seriously trying to say that children going to the doctor and saying that they are worried about their gender is akin to children being experimented on in Nazi concentration camps?’
When Mr Linehan insisted he wasn’t making the comparison, Ms Smith said ‘that’s basically what you said’.
She went on to claim that he was ‘fanning the flames’ and ‘throwing fuel’ on the debate.
Mr Linehan then highlighted how women who have spoken out about trans issues have been threatened with ‘rape and death threats’.
Ms Smith said he was ‘amplifying the toxicity of the debate’ by using ‘inflammatory language’.
Speaking to Mr Wootton about the interview, Mr Linehan claimed the BBC had been ‘negligent’ regarding claims about the Tavistock clinic in the same way as their alleged failure to investigate allegations about paedophile Jimmy Savile before his death in 2011.
The star added that he has since been ‘vindicated’ following news that the Tavistock clinic will shut its doors after a damning report found it was ‘not safe’ for children
He said he had believed that Newsnight would give him ‘a chance to explain his views in full’, but was instead fiercely criticised.
Instead, he said they likened him to David Icke, who was a professional footballer and broadcaster before he began airing bizarre views.
The conspiracy theorist’s claims include that the Royal family are shape-shifting lizards.
Mr Linehan also claimed that the BBC have been ‘captured’ by the views of radical activists, and mentioned how a children’s programme aimed at nine to 12-year-olds had included the astonishing claim that there are ‘over 100 gender identities’.
His comments come after news last month that the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust will be replaced by regional centres at existing children’s hospitals, which will provide more holistic care with ‘strong links to mental health services’.
The move came in response to an ongoing review led by senior paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, who warned the gender clinic was ‘not a safe or viable long-term option’.
She found other mental health issues were ‘overshadowed’ in favour of gender identity issues when children were referred to Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS).
The clinic has been accused of rushing children onto puberty blocking drugs by former patients who feel they weren’t challenged enough.
The controversial clinic has treated at least 9,000 children for gender dysphoria since it opened in 1989.
Former patient Keira Bell took the clinic to the High Court, claiming that she had not been challenged enough when she was prescribed the drugs at age 16.