I hate that they use the word "fecklessness". Doesn't give me confidence that these are the grown-ups. But again, whatever. It's not about my feelings, open mind, blah blah.

Yes, plus that pre-existing sub culture within UK feminism which seemed to be convincing to a few left leaning people of a certain age, who set about convincing their colleagues, a true elite panic. It left progressives divided. In Australia, its very associated with the nastiest right wingers.

Hunting for bias will ultimately be hunting the snark. We are all biased in some way or another. The news team need to insist on detail and rigour, not matching one empty but biased commentator with another equally empty and biased commentator from the other side.

What has saved Australia from this so far, is that its remained a thing of the Right, no strong foothold in the Left/Centre (Greens had a small Terf group, but they are being kicked out), and it didn't take off in any non hard right newspaper (although The Age had a close shave with a former ed).

What has saved Australia from this so far, is that its remained a thing of the Right, no strong foothold in the Left/Centre (Greens had a small Terf group, but they are being kicked out), and it didn't take off in any non hard right newspaper (although The Age had a close shave with a former ed).

These people were largely unaware of trans people's existence before the moral panic.

They have been radicalised, like all people get radicalised, by playing to their legitimate fears.

Women fear violent men, so they pretend trans women are violent men. Easy win, then they ramp it up from there.

It's understandable that we lean on these ideas. It's much more comforting to think that someone has always been transphobic and is just now showing their true self, or that someone is in it for the grift and doesn't really believe it. It's much harder to acknowledge radicalisation is happening.

There's also a tendency to suggest it's all a grift. Now there definitely are people who have spotted a money-making opportunity here and seized it, but for most of them, including the high-profile ones who are able to attract funding or even make it their jobs, it's still a moral crusade above all.

I knew Susan Dalgety. I knew Lucy Hunter. I even kinda knew JK Rowling in an online pals sort of way. They were not the people they are today. They and many others have been radicalised by a moral panic which is seeded by small half-truths and then fuels itself into an inferno of fear and anger.

I was at a talk with David McWilliams today who made the interesting point that Ireland is getting better (although still not good enough) at resisting "the bullying of the English language", the tendency to think something in the UK or USA is more relevant to them than Asia or Europe