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Would You Work with the ‘Alliance Defending Freedom’?
A 2022 Bindel–Joyce debate in which Joyce calls my gender ‘an attack on the whole institution of civilization’
On December 8, 2022, UnHerd hosted a debate between Julie Bindel and Helen Joyce. It was held in-person at UnHerd’s London headquarters and billed as “Should TERFs unite with the Right?” (If you object to the word “TERF,” please speak to UnHerd, not to me.)
I disagree completely with the views of the anti-trans movement. When I read or watch anti-trans discourse, I do so to analyze it. I’ve critiqued the views of Bindel and Joyce before.
I didn’t discover this 2022 recording until mid-2024, a couple months before the U.S. election. Only now, soon after the election, have I had a chance to assemble my thoughts.
The question of whether the anti-trans movement is left or right carries resonance now. Even though the discussion was more UK-centric, it has implications for the US. This video, though relatively “old,” feels important. It gave me new information, particularly about Joyce’s worldview.
Bindel and Joyce Both Identify as Left of Center
Bindel identifies as ´leftist´
Julie Bindel says “I am a leftist. I am a soft socialist.” She says she doesn’t work with men because many are “sexist.” (15:25–15:35) Her “focus was completely on men’s violence and ending that, through a feminist lens.” (1:01:15–22) “I’m really not hard leftist,” she says. (1:01:55)
She doesn’t describe herself as a TERF because she believes “trans-exclusionary” is inaccurate; she doesn’t “exclude” people who are living in as the opposite sex. She goes on to say that TERF “is a slur.” (16:30–16:45) Why she did not object to UnHerd advertising her talk under a word she believes is a slur, I cannot explain for her.
She doesn’t call herself “gender-critical” either, as “it would be like being critical of cancer or racism.” Her disapproval of “gender” is more thorough. She calls herself a “gender abolitionist.” (16:45–16:52)
