@Andrewdoyle_com is the Twitter account of Andrew Doyle, a 44-year-old playwright, journalist, and political satirist from Derry in Northern Ireland. He studied English at Wadham College, Oxford, and then worked as a teacher. In 2019, he published a book about free speech titled ‘Free Speech and Why It Matters’.
Google’s Bard told us this:
“Andrew Doyle is best known for creating the satirical Twitter character Titania McGrath, a self-proclaimed “intersectional activist” and “wokester”. Doyle hosts a weekly show titled Free Speech Nation on GB News.
The show discusses various topics related to free speech, including censorship, cancel culture, and political correctness. Some have praised Free Speech Nation for its willingness to tackle controversial issues, but others have criticised it for being biased and promoting right-wing views”.
Given his bio – a journalist promoting free speech, one would expect him to be open to hearing everyone’s opinions. Still, we at TransLucent received numerous reports that were not the case, so on the 28th of June 2023, we asked on Twitter:
Are you trans or an ally of trans folk? Has @andrewdoyle_com blocked you? Please let us know either way.
We looked at the first one hundred replies taking screenshots; ninety-five reported that Andrew Doyle had blocked them, two said they had blocked him, and three others said they were not blocked.
Many respondents commented – such as Tom, who said: “Yes, don’t recall having any interaction with him”. Hillary tweeted back, saying: “I didn’t even know who he was but had blocked me”, while Stuart commented: “Yup…ally and blocked. Never interacted”.
Susie Green, formerly the CEO of Mermaids Charity, confirmed she was blocked, as did former professional cyclist and trans woman Pippa York saying, “Yes, I’m blocked, and I don’t even know who he is.” Speak Out Sister, a trans-inclusionary feminist group with over 25,500 Twitter followers, confirmed they are blocked.
Even organisations like the Feminist Gender Equality Network, hardly known to be aggressive, confirmed they are blocked, as to are TransLucent and the personal account of our CEO Steph Richards.
We find Andrews’s actions quite extraordinary. Here is a guy who has written a book titled ‘Free Speech and Why It Matters’, yet he appears to block anyone on Twitter who advocate for trans human rights.
When you write a book on free speech and censorship, one would expect that person to be open to different views; indeed, as a journalist, we would suggest it’s an obligation of the trade.
Andrew Doyle would appear to disagree.
Was his book satirical?
But this story goes a bit further because on the GB News website, Andrew says this:
Most of the problems we face today with political tribalism could be resolved if people learned to talk to each other and not simply demonise anyone with an alternative opinion.
Interesting Andrew ….how are we going to learn to talk when you don’t hear?
Our CEO contacted one of Doyle’s agents asking for a comment – she received a rather hostile reply suggesting that Andrew should not be harassed.
Just a few hours later, Posie Parker, aka Kelli-Jay, the trans-hostile activist, announced she was visiting Portsmouth in her LetWomenSpeakTour,- the city where TransLucent are based.
Strange that.
We are unsure if Andrew Doyle would be considered far-right, and we agree it could just be a coincidence, but it should not be forgotten that the far-right has certainly visited LetWomenSpeak events in the past. It would be good if Andrew kept to his philosophy and everyone did talk instead of blocking trans people and our allies.
Perhaps Andrew would like to invite us or one of our allies on his show so we can discuss Free Speech?
