Andrew Neil said that if being a ‘TERF’ put him in the same camp as author JK Rowling, he was pleased because it made him a supporter of women’s rights.
Andrew Neil is the latest public figure to be branded a ‘TERF’ after questioning transgender ideology on Twitter.
The broadcaster, 74, was called the derogatory term – an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist – when he asked why children were being given puberty blockers.
After being subjected to online abuse over the weekend, the Daily Mail columnist tweeted: ‘I can see it’s been bloody in the trenches and those in the vanguard have been sorely abused and traduced.’
The trolling towards Neil began after he reacted to a video of de-transitioner, Chloe Cole, pleading with Congress to end gender-reassignment surgeries for minors in the US.
Shocked, the former Sunday Times Editor and ex-BBC political presenter shared the video on Friday to his 1.2 million followers and said: ‘This is heartbreaking. It is barbaric.
‘I had no idea such things could be done to young, vulnerable people. I feel ashamed and angry. It must be stopped.’
Neil further showed his support for frontline campaigners against allowing children to medically alter their gender by unblocking Graham Linehan, a controversial but consistent voice against the medical transition of children.
He wrote: ‘Well done to all those who’ve been raising the alarm for some time. I am impressed.’