Most of what we post here is about stuff the ABC’s put to air (radio, TV, social
media). How about stuff Aunty hasn’t put to air?
Helen Joyce – a distinguished Irish journalist and author of the 2021 Sunday Times bestseller Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality – had what she calls an ‘adventure in cancellation’ with the ABC in
April 2022:
The ABC producer [who sent Joyce an email on 20 April] asked for a PDF copy of my book,
which I sent, and arranged a time for a radio interview, which happened on April 25th. It was
probing, with the host labouring under the misapprehension that trans people undergo some
gruelling procedure that really does turn them into a close approximation of the opposite sex,
if not the real thing. He seemed certain that transwomen were not only so like women that
their admission into female sports was fair, but so oppressed and unhappy that their
exclusion would be unacceptably mean. I explained, as I have many times, what male
puberty does, reminded him that humans are mammals—and pointed out that the largest
oppressed group the world has ever seen is women.I did use the word “male” a lot, but I don’t think I actually misgendered any of the athletes I
Helen Joyce, Joyce Activated Issue 4
mentioned, such as Laurel Hubbard and Lia Thomas. But a few days later I woke up to an
email from the producer telling me that, unfortunately, “sound issues” with the recording
meant they wouldn’t be able to use it. Obviously that was nonsense—I’d happily have re-
recorded, but she didn’t even bother to ask.
Helen Joyce’s post: Joyce Activated, Issue 4
Helen Joyce’s book Trans: When ideology Meets Reality
Image source: Helen Joyce