Nigella Lawson has been praised for championing trans rights.
The celebrity chef has been thanked by numerous LGBTQ+ rights organisations and activists after she shared an article from a woman whose nephew came out as trans.
The opinion piece in the Independent, titled ‘I sympathised with gender-critical campaigners – until my nephew came out as trans’, was written by Nora Mulready, who said: ‘Gender-critical campaigners are fighting to ensure that the government insists on medical, not just social, transition for gender identity to be legally recognised.
‘They simultaneously accuse trans activists and even parents of trans children of “shunting them” down a medical route. This is both wildly different from the lived experience of these families, who tread carefully, sensitively, and cautiously with their children, as well as deeply hypocritical by the gender-critical campaigners who both insist on medical transition, whilst also condemning it.’
She added that while she initially hoped that her nephew was in a ‘phase’ that would ‘pass’, she began to see the contradictions in the debate and now sees ‘trans acceptance as a civil rights issue’.
Nigella, 60, posted the article on her Twitter, and tweeted: ‘A still small voice of calm.’
Stonewall and Mermaids both thanked Lawson for sharing the article with her 2.6 million followers, with the latter, a charity for transgender children and their families, writing: ‘Hi Nigella, it’s great to see you sharing this. X Calm not hate.’
Journalist and trans activist Paris Lees replied: ‘We need much more kindness and fairness when discussing these children’s lives. Thank you for being a sensible voice’, while cook and writer Jack Monroe wrote: ‘Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou [sic].’
And Jo Maugham QC tweeted: ‘Thanks for sharing that, Nigella. I hope that transphobia will soon become as socially unacceptable as racism and homophobia.’
Elsewhere, fans commended the TV star, proclaiming: ‘Nigella Lawson said trans rights.’
However, amongst the praise, many other also criticised Lawson for sharing the article, and argued that it is not bigoted to be against self-identification while sharing articles about gender critical ideology and people who have detransitioned.
Lawson’s post came after JK Rowling handed back a human rights award after the president of Robert F Kennedy Human Rights said she was ‘profoundly disappointed’ with the author’s views on trans rights.
The Harry Potter star has argued that same-sex attraction is erased if sex ‘isn’t real’, and believes a ‘medical scandal’ is brewing around gender reassignment surgery.
Rowling, 55, denied being transphobic, and wrote in a statement on her website: ‘I’ve been particularly struck by the stories of brave detransitioned young women who’ve risked the opprobrium of activists by speaking up about a movement they say has harmed them.
‘After hearing personally from some of these women, and from such a wide range of professionals, I’ve been forced to the unhappy conclusion that an ethical and medical scandal is brewing. I believe the time is coming when those organisations and individuals who have uncritically embraced fashionable dogma, and demonised those urging caution, will have to answer for the harm they’ve enabled.
‘RFKHR has stated that there is no conflict between the current radical trans rights movement and the rights of women. The thousands of women who’ve got in touch with me disagree, and, like me, believe this clash of rights can only be resolved if more nuance is permitted in the debate.’
Earlier this year, Father Ted creator Graham Linehan – who has supported Rowling – was permanently suspended from Twitter following numerous tweets which broke the platform’s guidelines; the writer had tweeted ‘men aren’t women’ in response to a transgender Pride post.
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