Married at First Sight’s Thomas Hartley challenges Laurence Fox’s anti-trans views live on air
Thomas Hartley appeared opposite Laurence Fox to defend trans rights (@GBNews/ Twitter)
Married at First Sight UK star Thomas Hartley appeared on the right wing broadcaster GB News in an attempt to educate presenter Laurence Fox on trans rights.
The channel regularly platforms those with anti-trans views, including Laurence Fox – yes, the same one who turned the Pride flag into a swastika, called Crystal from Drag Race UK a paedophile and got very upset when Sainsbury’s celebrated Black History Month.
Hartley, who recently came out as pansexual, chose to go into “the lions den to make change”, appearing on Fox’s show on Monday (19 December).
Appearing opposite Fox in a shirt that read “Trans rights are human rights”, Hartley challenged Fox on his belief that trans women aren’t women.
“They’re not women, they’re blokes,” Fox fired back, who then asked Hartley to ‘help’ him out by answering every right wing platform’s favourite ‘gotcha’ question: “What is a woman?”
Hartley replied: “My definition of a woman is somebody who tells me, and lives their life, as a woman.”
When Fox pressed him, Hartley asked Fox how he identified, to which he replied: “A man”.
Hartley continued: “Ok, so you’re a man, that’s fine. I’m not going to question it, it’s got nothing to do with me.”
He told Fox: “You’re defining somebody’s gender by their genitals. I don’t do that.”
Hartley then called Fox ‘right-wing’, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to viewers given the GBNews presenter opposed both the Black Lives Matter protests and vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After founding the Reclaim Party (based on “challenging the woke orthodoxy of “white privilege” and “systemic racism”,) Fox stood unsuccessfully in the 2021 London mayoral election in opposition to what he deemed “extreme political correctness”. He gained 1.9% of the vote, losing his deposit.
Fox went on to to say that he doesn’t think “defending the rights of women” is right wing.
Hartley replied: “Well you’re not defending the rights of women, ‘cos no-one’s challenged the rights of women. Who’s challenging them?”
“Would you go up to somebody and say ‘can you please expose yourself to me so I know exactly what’s inbetween [your legs]?”
Hartley pointed out that Fox’s views perhaps hold less credence as he’s not “part of the community”.
Fox replied, entirely seriously: “I am part of the human community.”
Hartley wrapped up the experience by offering to send Fox one of the same t-shirts that he was wearing – we can’t imagine it’ll be arriving under Fox’s Christmas tree any time soon.
