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Channel 4's Gender Wars criticised by its contributors who reveal what wasn't shown
A number of contributors to new Channel 4 documentary Gender Wars have criticised the film, alleging that they were misled about its nature.
The documentary, which aired earlier this week, is described as a look at sex and gender with "views from various sides of the debate".
However, a number of those who took part have alleged that they were "not told the true nature of the documentary" in an open letter, particularly with the film's focus on Kathleen Stock, a former professor at Sussex University who quit her role after protests over her views on trans people and so-called 'gender-critical' standpoint.
Documentary contributor Dr Stephen Whittle, who is one of the letter's signatories, said he saw the documentary ahead of its broadcast, telling PinkNews: "Absolutely, it is a Kathleen Stock rehab show. This is not about us. We are there without any context to anything that we say.
"Nothing about the history. Nothing about how the legal changes came about. Nothing about the impact of gender-critical feminism on what our rights are now. None of that is in there. All it is is Kathleen Stock being a victim all the way through."
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Whittle, who is emeritus professor of equalities law at Manchester Metropolitan University, noted that he has been fighting for trans rights for "nearly 50 years", and has experienced being physically attacked in the streets and had people "throwing bottles and bricks" outside his home.
He added that Stock has "promoted a set of ideas that will lead to discrimination and is already doing so".
Charlie, another contributor, said that he and his partner Andrew were "specifically told" that they would be able to address topics including transphobia in the media and lengthy waiting lists for gender-affirming care, but "none of that" made it into the final edit of Gender Wars.
"I brought up the way the media treats us. That didn't come out at all in the documentary," Charlie said. "We brought up how trans people have severe waiting lists on the NHS, how we're disproportionately likely to be homeless. I talked about how on Trans Day of Remembrance we fed people because trans people are likely to need a free meal.
"How the far right [and] the Christian far right in the US are involved, about how cis women are unfairly targeted in toilets because of all this moral panic, how the government is trying to take away our rights, none of it made it into the documentary. Trans people are terrified. All we want to do is get on with living our lives."
Charlie went on to allege the documentary adds "fuel to that fire" of anti-trans hate and added that he feels "incredibly let down" and "disappointed" by the programme.
A fellow contributor, Doctor Gina Gwenffrewi, suggested that nobody watching the documentary will "learn anything that they don't already know from the media", and that trans people are portrayed as "irrational, crazy and militant".
"It doesn't talk about the US and all the legislation against trans people," added Gwenffrewi, who is co-director of the Scottish Universities' International Summer School at the University of Edinburgh. "It doesn't talk about the recycling of 1980s contagion narratives, grooming narratives, predator narratives.
"It doesn't talk about Kathleen Stock's campaigning, for example, as a trustee of LGB Alliance – which has compared the queer and trans elements of LGBT to bestiality – and the campaigns right now to remove trans people from the Equality Act in relation to same-sex spaces, which would effectively push trans people [out of the public eye].
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"It doesn't deal with any of these [topics]... It doesn't talk about the many protests, huge protests, for trans rights. It only talks about the protest in a very problematic way. It just regurgitates the same things that the public are already getting."
Gwenffrewi also alleged that Gender Wars contributes to a "right-wing narrative that freedom of speech is ultimately the most important thing," adding that "free speech absolutism" is "really just an opportunity to use hate speech and the denigration of minorities".
In response to Pink News' report, Channel 4 said that "as explained to all contributors", Gender Wars "hears from a range of voices on this issue".
"It aims to create a respectful and inclusive look at what gender means in 2023, and is an opportunity for all to listen and find common ground. All of the contributors have been shown the film," they added.
Digital Spy has also reached out to Channel 4 for additional comment, who said: "The programme hears from a range of voices from various sides of the debate on this topic.
"It aims to create a respectful and inclusive look at what gender means in 2023, and is an opportunity for all sides to listen and find common ground."
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