Tip Toe?

 Tip Toe - A Fictional Drama

Like many in our community, I watched the Russell T Davies drama with much interest. It was a difficult watch. All of the actors were brilliant in this frightening tale of homophobia and right wing radicalisation. There were moments of humour to lift the otherwise bleak tone, especially from the lead character,  Leo who was played by Alan Cumming. The story is basically about the radicalisation of Leo's next door neighbour Clive played by David Morrisey. He is increasingly homophobic and racist and seduced by conspiracy theorists. And when he discovers his own son is gay, he reacts with extreme violence against his gay next door neighbour, who has been helping his son to come to terms with who he is. It shows all of the hatred that is now being directed at the LGBTQ+ community, and how it's amplified and stoked into ideological hatred that dehumanises the members of this community of people. And it ends with the vicious and disgusting lynching of Leo, by Clive and his hate filled gang of followers.  It's a tough watch from start to finish. It shows how a normal, reasonable person can become twisted and inhuman in how they perceive others who are different to them. How those who don't conform to normal can be vilified to the point of having their lives put in danger. And how the source of this hatred is coming from the internet and social media. It twists people into wrongly perceiving others to be against them, or to blame for problems in their lives. And the reactions are becoming increasingly violent and volatile, with the fires stoked by bad actors in society  who are either filled with hate themselves, or have something to gain from this maelstrom of hatred. I have found myself feeling vulnerable and scared and very depressed after viewing this program. Thankfully not scared enough to hide away or walk away and bury my head in the sand. But it has unsettled me. I hope it affects those that see it, in a way that provokes a positive reaction against the awful situation that is portrayed.

However, despite being critically acclaimed and seem as a warning of the awful bigotry that us prevalent today, it isn't being agonised over and discussed at the highest levels, in the same way as Adolescence, the series about boys being indoctrinated by misogyny, was. There was no interview with the Prime Minister to address it and tell us how he watched with his children to educate them about homophobia, as he did with misogyny, following Adolescence. This is definitely something that needs to be addressed. A warning that needs to be heeded.

It was powerful as both a drama and a warning. However it was let down by a poor approach over a couple of issues. One of the characters, played by Elizabeth Berrington was Stephanie, who was Leo's best friend. She was also gender critical. A TERF. She expressed her point of view a few times in the program. Apparently Russell T Davies has friends who are TERFs and believes that we should be able to have sensible discussions with them over the trans issue, and if necessary agree to disagree. So does that extend to being able to discuss the rights to exist as a  gay person with a homophobe, and then agree to disagree? Of course not. So I feel it gave the impression that transphobia is bad, but unlike homophobia not worth losing your friends over. So two tier bigotry. I believe that all bigots should be cut adrift, be it racism, misogyny, homophobia or transphobia. If you are a bigot, then I don't want to know you, and if you're friends are bigots, then you're a bigot too, to paraphrase the song, 'Racist Friend' by The Special AKA.

Another weak piece of writing came during the lynching scene, Clive suddenly feels remorse and begs his mob to stop. But it's too late. Leo is dead. This allows the viewer to almost see his death as an accident. Most bigoted thugs in that situation, don't have any qualms about seeing through their evil.  Clive may be a victim of radicalisation, but by the time he is leading the lynching of Leo, he is beyond all redemption, and should not have been afforded that moment of showing his humanity. 

Those points aside, it should be essential viewing for everyone, even if it is an incredibly difficult watch.

Tip Toe - The Reality?

Today, in the area of Cornwall where I live, there has been a shocking example of transphobic bigotry. It's Pride month, and in the spirit of that, the local library organised a storytelling and crafting event, with a couple of Cornwall's finest drag queens, Ginger and Roxie Moron. It was just a bit of fun for the children. Nothing more. No intentions of pushing any "Trans Ideology" as it's often referred to by gender critical fools. No just a couple of colourful entertainers reading some stories and colouring some rainbows and covering them in glitter. Not transgendered individuals, but men engaged in a craft that has been a British tradition for centuries. Female impersonation for entertainment. One of them, Ginger, even has a full beard. A lot of people, both children and parents were really looking forward to the event.  Just a bit of colourful fun. 

And then something ugly happened. Nasty comments and abuse began to be directed towards the library, and to Roxie and Ginger. There were death threats and abusive and homophobic and transphobic comments being posted. And then it became apparent that some of these bigoted idiots were threatening to turn up at the library and protest. And with that threat hanging over them, the library and the entertainers had no choice but to cancel the event, for the safety of the library staff, the entertainers and most importantly, the children. The last thing they would need is security guards or the police, escorting children and their parents into the venue, in some bizarre recreation of the black students being escorted into the high school at Little Rock, Arkansas in the 1960s, during the civil rights movement. The thugs planning to protest claimed to be doing it for the kids safety. I'm sure the children would be far more traumatised by right wing yobs, than a couple of guys who dress in frocks as an act. Entertainment. A bit of light hearted fun.

This is a screenshot of some of the comments these despicable idiots left on a local Facebook group. 

Disgusting comments. It even references Hitler, as having the right ideas about burning gay and trans books. I think it's Hitler. The melt that posted it, spelt it Hilter! There were worse comments and direct threats made directly to the drag queens and to the library. What might have happened if the event went ahead? Would one of these fascist idiots have decided to make good on his threats.? Could someone have ended up hanging from a lamppost like poor Leo in Tip Toe?

This country has a long tradition of males impersonating women for entertainment,  from Shakespearean actors, pantomime ugly sisters (Shout out to Biggins), Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough's Cissie and Ada, Danny La Rue, Stanley Baxter, Dick Emery, Hinge and Bracket and the Blonde Bombsite herself, Lily Savage AKA national treasure, Paul O'Grady. And not forgetting Australia's housewife superstar Dame Edna Everage! How can any sane person see a threat to children from drag queens? Simple answer? They can't. It just suits their fascist bully boy agenda.

One heartening aspect of this awful situation is the amount of supportive comments being left in support of all those who were forced to cancel this event, especially the drag queens, Roxie and Ginger. It bears out the fact that despite these idiots being emboldened to behave in such a disgusting and thuggish way, there are plenty of people who will stand up to stop these facist scum. And I count myself as someone who will stand up against them.

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