Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan, creator of the critically acclaimed 90s sitcom Father Ted, has once again been caught in the firing line for his views on transgender issues. Leith Arches, an event venue in Edinburgh, announced on Tuesday, August 15th, that it would be cancelling a show by the act Comedy Unleashed, because one of its performers, namely Linehan’s, views do not align with their “overall values.”
The organisers say they were not aware that Linehan would be taking part in the show, and thanked members of the public for their complaints about his scheduled appearance. In a statement to Sky News, Leith Arches, which often hosts queer and drag events, justified its decision by saying:
]We work very closely with the LGBT+ community—it is a considerable part of our revenue. We believe hosting this one-off event would have a negative effect on future bookings … We are not against freedom of speech. The show is not a good fit for our venue.
One of the organisers of Comedy Unleashed, Andrew Doyle told BBC Radio that the whole purpose of their act is to allow comedians to “leave their self-censorship button at the door.” He added:
We’re very much against this cancel culture because we think it’s killing the arts and it’s treating the audience like children who need mollycoddling … We want people to be free and treat the audience like they’re adults.
Another venue in Edinburgh, comedy club The Stand earlier this year cancelled an appearance by lawyer and member of the Scottish Parliament, Joanna Cherry, a self-proclaimed feminist. Cherry opposed Scotland’s Gender Affirmation Act—an act blocked by the UK government—which allows individuals over the age of 16 to receive a gender recognition certificate without a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The comedy club said they were not comfortable with her views on transgender issues, but later reinstated the event, apologised to Cherry, and admitted the cancellation was “unfair and constituted unlawful discrimination.”
Joanna Cherry took to social media platform X on Tuesday to criticise the cancellation of Graham Linehan. “Edinburgh, the home of the enlightenment, is in danger of becoming an unlawful discrimination & anti free speech hotspot,” she wrote.
Graham Linehan has been an outspoken critic of gender ideology. He says his views have lost him work and contributed to his marriage falling apart. He was banned from Twitter after writing “men aren’t women tho” in response to the Women’s Institute sending a Happy Pride message to its transgender members. His account was reinstated by new Twitter owner Elon Musk.
A Father Ted musical was cancelled by producers following the controversy over Linehan’s views. An episode of another one of his comedies, “The IT Crowd,” in which a trans woman ends up in a physical fight with her boyfriend, was removed from Channel 4’s streaming service in 2020.
“The most important view I have is that it is a crime against humanity to tell children that they may have been born in the wrong body,” Linehan said in an interview with Talk TV on Wednesday.
In a previous interview with The Times, he said about his anti-trans activism:
I did it for my wife and daughter, even though we broke up. I did it for them and I’d do it again. I don’t think I’d have been doing my job as a father if I hadn’t been fighting against this stuff. I don’t want my daughter to go into college and have a male-bodied person whose story she doesn’t know in the toilet with her. She cannot object to it, so I had to take that fight on for her.
The writer will now consider taking legal action against Leith Arches, claiming the cancellation might be unlawful. “It sure sounds like discrimination on the grounds of my legally protected beliefs,” he said. The only good thing about his ordeal, he stated, “is that it’s drawing more attention to the fact that, essentially, a group of highly ideological cultists have taken over institutions across society.”
