Julie Bindel Julie Bindel

Why are trans activists and a bookstore trying to cancel me?

(Photo: iStock)

Imagine my surprise to wake up this morning to be told that Readings book store in Melbourne had posted an abject apology on its blog yesterday about hosting an event with me back in 2018:

‘Readings prides itself on ensuring everyone in our community feels safe, respected and considered. We apologise for any hurt caused by highlighting the work of an author whose current stance is to divide our community. To that end, Readings regrets programming Julie Bindel in 2018 and thank our community for opening the dialogue with us. Readings is committed to considering the work of all authors to ensure our future program of events, reviews and discussions remain relevant and diverse.’

The kerfuffle has come about because the trans-author Juno Dawson is booked to do an online event hosted by the bookstore later this month. Juno, who once said ‘a lot of gay men are gay men as a consolation prize because they couldn’t be women’ is clearly a better bet than a feminist who has spent her entire adult life campaigning to end male violence.

Whoever persuaded Readings to grovel to the Trans Taliban has obviously trawled its previous events until falling upon my name. I wonder if any other heretics have appeared at the store in the past? Maybe the shelves need to be rid of all feminist tomes that do not state on the jacket that ‘trans women are women’? Certainly, the store’s many copies of Mein Kampf will be available so that visitors can check the definition of ‘Nazi’ and ensure it is applied to us uppity women that campaign to retain our hard won rights.

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