VOICES
MEDIAWATCH with Carrie Lyell @Seej
#LwiththeT
I was on a train back from the press launch of Liverpool Pride when I checked our Twitter notifications and found out that writer, activist and filmmaker Owl Fisher had become a target of some of the most vicious abuse, simply for being in DIVA.
I know that transphobia exists in our community – it saddens me, and makes me sick to my stomach, but it doesn’t surprise me. What I did find surprising, though, was the level of vitriol, and why it happened now. Owl is not the first trans or non-binary person to appear in the magazine – far from it. We are explicitly trans inclusive, and have had trans and non-binary cover stars, contributors and columnists for as long as I can remember. So why a group of hate-filled “feminists” were suddenly up in my timeline, telling me who my magazine was for, I don’t know. Drafting a quick statement about our stance, I also emailed Owl to check they were ok and thought no more about it. That was until it was picked up by various other media outlets including Pink News. I get why it was newsworthy – and don’t object to it being covered. But I do find it frustrating that an incredibly small (though vocal) group of women are given so much attention in the media.