Fr Ted creator/writer Graham Linehan Arrested over posts on Transgender issues

It is hilarious in that it makes people saying she hates trans people look like idiots.

Is she? How do you mean?

Is applauding mandatory these days?

That's good to hear that you support men, regardless of gender identity, not being able to access women's same sex spaces.

You are absolutely right on the language. For some reason Enid Blyton comes to mind - she used "gay" and "queer" in a way that we wouldn't nowadays. But, as you pointed out, the change in usage is organic, and happened gradually over time. Recently we have had language invented in academic institutions, and attempts made to force usage of such language on everyone. We've also had attempts to eradicate the use of the word "woman" in medical settings. It's bizarre.

I don't want to quote the mod warning lest I appear to be discussing the moderation. I am mindful of the appeal to maintain standards though, and with that in mind I feel the need to correct some of my own shortcomings.

Firstly, the first post I mentioned regarding diminishing the successes of famous people because they hold unacceptable opinions was by a poster not involved in the current discussion so I didn't and won't name them. They did clarify after a query that they have no time for Rowling.

Secondly, I responded to a post by @ancapailldorcha where he was wondering if it was one of his posts I was referencing. I said no, which was correct in respect of the post referring to Rowling as a writer of children's books, but not correct in the part where I said "she also got the bigot label" which was a reference to a post by ancapailldorcha. The full statement was "Rowling is nothing more than a hateful bigot". In recent days he has clarified that he now accepts that Rowling has written a hugely successful series of books for children and that writing books for children is a good thing, which is the perfect rebuttal of the "nothing more than" part of the statement. Now all we need is a retraction of the hateful bigot part, or specific examples and evidence to back it up, so we can see that the comment is not just born out of prejudice. I can offer no explanation for my posting a factually incorrect statement other than a brain fart for which I apologise unreservedly.

Finally, to get back to the to-and-fro: they say if you're explaining you're losing, but it's a lovely sunny Sunday evening, and I had a lovely weekend after a lovely albeit hectic week, and I'm feeling pretty zen, so what the hell😊.

Some people transcend the fields in which they operate. You can argue, and many do, about whether Muhammad Ali, Einstein, Eddy Merckx, Michael Jordan, Pele, or indeed JK Rowling are the greatest ever in their respective theatres. What you should not do is ignore the influence they had. Each is so well known, and their success so recognised, that their names are synonymous with excellence. You don't have to say Muhammad Ali the three time world champion etc, mention of his name is enough. In the post I referenced, it was clear who the poster was referring to, but no names were mentioned. Of course it's just my opinion, but this is an forum for expressing opinions, and referring to people on the above list as a boxer, patent clerk, basketballer, footballer, writer of children's books respectively would appear as if the deliberate avoidance of writing the name was done to avoid mentioning the achievements. That's why the post, which to paraphrase very heavily was along the lines of "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn about the opinions of a failed comedian and a writer of children's books", stuck in my mind.