Spectator slammed for featuring ‘dehumanising, degrading’ transphobic cartoon
Stonewall CEO Ruth Hunt says the cartoon ‘reductive’ and ‘damaging’.
The Spectator is receiving criticism for its cartoon – which shows two men ‘trans-spotting’.
The doodle – a lazy play on the stereotypical idea of train spotting – shows the men dressed in anoraks pointing at a person with a beard wearing a skirt.
“There’s one,” one of the men says, pointing.
Since publishing the sketch – drawn by Roger Latham – the magazine has heavily criticised.
Stonewall Chief Executive Ruth Hunt has expressed her disappointment at seeing such a cartoon featured, “which mocks and humiliates the transgender communities.
“The illustration’s title, ‘Trans spotting’ objectifies trans people and positions them as objects to be leered at by others,” she said.
“It is dehumanising and reductive to a community that is already the subject of a lot of abuse and misunderstanding.
“If this cartoon intends to provoke humour, its aim has been completely missed. Instead, it reinforces the damaging and degrading treatment the trans community in Britain too often faces,” she added.
“All people deserve the right to exist freely and be themselves, without fear of discrimination and persecution, and that includes trans people.”
The comments are taken from a submission to the Letters page of The Spectator from Ms Hunt, which Stonewall are waiting to hear back from.
Unsurprisingly, this is not the first time The Spectator has caused outrage and upset with transphobic content.
In January columnist Melanie Phillips – who has previously accused the gay community of brainwashing children – claimed that Tory MP Maria Miller is also trying to turn unsuspecting youngsters transgender.
The former Mail journalist wrote the column after Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee, chaired by Conservative MP Maria Miller, released a landmark report on trans issues earlier this year.
