‘Her Penis’? – Cancelled ‘Father Ted’ Creator Defies Trans Lobby, Insists ‘Women Are Real’

Writer/Director Graham Linehan of Britain holds the award in the Comedy category for "The
STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images
Peter Caddle

Graham Linehan, the cancelled co-creator of Father Ted, has once again defied the trans lobby by insisting that “women are real”.

The co-creator of hit TV comedy Father Ted has once again doubled-down on his defiance of the trans lobby, insisting in an interview that “women are real”.

Linehan has come under extreme pressure from hardline trans activists in the past, with the comedian claiming that he has received visits from the British police multiple times over reports from people he describes as “trolls”.

However, despite the Irishman saying that the trans lobby “took everything” from him in an interview with the BBC, he has doubled down on his positions.

“The one thing about this that keeps me going is that I know I’m right,” Linehan said regarding the harassment he has faced.

“When you open up a newspaper and you see the words used… about sexual offenders who have suddenly decided they’re women, and the word[s] ‘her penis’ comes up… every time I see something like that I just think well, I’m right, and everyone else is wrong,” he explained.

“[I]n this particular case, I gotta say, sex is important, women are real, women’s language is important, women need words like women to describe themselves — these are all just basic things.”

Linehan has been on both sides of the fence when it comes to cancel culture, having previously cheered on the hate speech prosecution of Scottish comedian Markus Meechan — better known as Count Dankula — for being “grossly offensive”.

However, the Father Ted creator has since had something of a Pauline conversion, having been on the receiving end of both social and legal pressure over his own comments on the trans issue.

Regarding the Dankula case, Linehan apologised for his actions against the Scotsman, and now expresses the need for comedians to be protected from cancellation.

“Every comedian at the moment is living under a kind of state of permanent blackmail,” he said. “Every comedian knows that if they step on the wrong side of any particular line… you’ll be destroyed.”

“I do believe… we will look back at this time and we will go ‘how did we get so insane?'” he predicted.

However, while Linehan is adamant that comedians should be protected and that women need to be recognised as being women, others — especially in the United Kingdom — are struggling with that concept.

Most recently, Britain’s Chancellor for the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, was caught in an unbelievable position during an interview on Thursday, during which he studiously refused to define the term “woman”, waving the question off by saying that he stood behind what Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the day before.

“I thought the Prime Minister answered this brilliantly in Prime Minister’s Questions time… I fully agree with him,” he said in response to the question “what is a woman?”.

When pushed on the issue he repeatedly declined to give his own view in his own words, and when asked what it was Johnson had said that he agreed with he admitted he could not remember exactly what the Prime Minister had said.
“I can’t remember it,” the Conservative Party political said, stuttering, but still reiterated that he “thought [Johnson] put it very well.”

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