Graham Linehan once had all the makings of an international treasure. The 57-year-old Irish writer is the creator of Father Ted, The IT Crowd and Black Books. On top of this, he had a hand in writing episodes of Little Britain, Motherland and Count Arthur Strong. His work has shaped many of the in-jokes and references that have become shorthand in the British and Irish vernacular today, from “down with that sort of thing” to calling football a “ludicrous display”. He has been the recipient of five BAFTAs, including Best Writer in the comedy category.
This used to be the way you would explain Graham Linehan’s cultural legacy. These were the little facts that topped his Wikipedia. Oh how things have changed: now, he’s double billed as an Irish comedy writer “and anti-transgender activist.” Not only has his career has collapsed, but his marriage has failed — outcomes which Linehan himself has admitted were due to his obsessive anti-trans activism.
And yet, he persists. This Tuesday, Linehan was arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence against the trans community through his posts on X. One of his posts from April of this year claimed that trans women who choose to use women-only facilities are violent criminals. He also advocated punching them “in the balls” if calling police failed to stop them from using such facilities.
See also: Graham Linehan arrives at court for trans 'harassment' trial amid airport arrest storm
In a post to his Substack, Linehan defended these posts, saying: “I explained that the 'punch' tweet was a serious point made with a joke”, and that it was about “the height difference between men and women... and certainly not a call to violence.”
Linehan plans to sue the Met over his arrest, with the writer claiming he was “treated like a terrorist for speaking his mind on social media”. His arrest has been criticised by J. K. Rowling, Elon Musk and British politicians such as Robert Jenrick and Jonathan Hinder.
Linehan first mounted his anti-trans agenda in 2008, following criticism from the transgender community over an episode of The IT Crowd.
In the episode, entitled The Fight, main character Douglas Reynholm unknowingly enters into a relationship with a transgender woman named April because he misheard her when she tried to talk to him about her transition. When he discovers the truth, the two end up in an overblown, bloody fist fight, the comedy of which lies in the fact that Douglas and April are equally strong, and that Douglas is allowed to hit April because she is actually “a man”.
If you separate Linehan, Musk and Rowling from their more recent decisions and ideologies, one thing is clear. They are all very smart individuals. Certain segments of the population might even call them geniuses. So why do they seem so obsessed with being anti-trans?
Linehan’s case in particular seems to make no sense. His activism is allegedly in service of women — a group he does not belong to. In case you wondered: yes, this irony is lost on him. He made that clear in February 2021, when he created a fake account on the lesbian dating app Her and publicly posted screenshots of non-binary people and trans women using it. (Which sounds rather like bothering women to me. If Linehan really wants to stop men from pestering women, perhaps the first person he needs to reconcile with is himself?)
Let’s add some context: Trans people make up around 0.55 per cent of England’s population. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, research indicates that 62 to 73 per cent of transgender people have experienced harassment and violence because they were identified as transgender. They are also at high risk of suicide, with surveys showing that adolescents who identify as transgender are particularly vulnerable to suicidal thoughts and self-harming behaviours. There aren’t any official stats on this, because the ONS filters mortality through sex, not gender.
Linehan’s crusade against trans rights has ruined his reputation and tanked his career. His only supporters are anti-trans campaigners, who recently raised £100,000 for his defamation case against actor and LGBT campaigner David Paisley. But wouldn’t his life have been much easier, much more successful, had he not chosen to die on this very particular hill?
Rowling, too, has tarnished her reputation with her anti-trans campaigning. Once a universally beloved figure, her upcoming Harry Potter reboot is now facing boycotts and bad press due to Rowling’s political views. Her profile hasn’t taken nearly the same hit as Linehan’s, but their views have certainly cost them both their unanimous “international treasure” status.
These are people whose creativity was so expansive, whose humour was so infectious, that they became not only famous, but respected, adored cultural figures. How can a mind so open swing shut with such force and speed?
Perhaps everyone gets past 40 and picks one bizarrely niche hill to die on, whether that be the anti-trans agenda, getting way too into defending the St George’s flag, avoiding inheritance tax or not letting go of minor grievances with their neighbours. Perhaps it is a lottery, and Linehan and Rowling just so happened to pick one of the most pointless causes of them all. But one thing’s for sure: like most things, he’d have been better off leaving it in 2008.
Maddy Mussen is a Features Writer at The London Standard
