TWIBS: Badenoch Boohoos Over Tennant’s Teasing
Beloved trans ally and two-time Doctor Who star David Tennant suggested that Kemi Badenoch, who abuses her governmental powers to harm trans people, should shut up. And it seems the current and future prime ministers have something to say about it!
Humor, by Alyssa Steinsiek
Taking the stage after winning the “Celebrity Ally” award at the British LGBT Awards (what?), beloved two-time star of British legacy television show Doctor Who, David Tennant, has yet again made press for being normal and good about trans people. If you aren’t familiar with the general state of LGBTQ+ acceptance in the UK these days, that sort of maneuver is now fit for capital punishment in the British press.
“I’m a little depressed by the fact that acknowledging everyone has the right to be who they want to be … should merit any kind of special award,” Tennant said after accepting the award. “We shouldn’t live in a world where that is worth remarking on. However, until we wake up and Kemi Badenoch doesn’t exist anymore… I don’t wish ill of her, I just want her to shut up.”
I agree wholeheartedly, but jeez, you have to empathize over the presumably immediate pang of regret Tennant must have felt when he remembered that making any sort of public pro-trans remarks will now catapult you directly into the international news cycle for a minimum of three full business days.
If you aren’t well informed about UK politics and politicos—no, I cannot explain why I am, beyond vaguely gesturing at full episode of Have I Got News For You uploaded to YouTube 15 years ago—Kemi Badenoch is currently the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, President of the Board of Trade, and Minister for Women and Equalities. That sure is a meaningless mouthful! Badenoch is a longstanding member of the Conservative Party (the Tories) with a storied history of failed candidacy bids culminating in membership by appointment after a woman actually capable of winning an election resigned her seat.
Despite being the Minister for Women and Equalities for nearly three years now, Badenoch’s track record of bigoted dipshittery includes: Opposition to workplace self-identification for trans Britons, opposition to public gender-neutral toilets, opposition to trans immigrants’ rights to self-identification in the UK, labeling gender-affirming care for children “a form of conversion therapy,” proposing school guidelines that would prohibit trans youth from socially transitioning, referring to trans children as “an epidemic” and saying that “no child is born in the wrong body.”
To name a few.
Oh, and in 2021 VICE published audio recorded in 2018 of Badenoch “[questioning] same-sex marriage and [calling] trans women ‘men’.” Just in case the personal thoughts and feelings affecting her work weren’t quite clear enough for you.
How, then, did this lowly bigoted scumbag reply to Tennant’s lighthearted suggestion that she shut her mouth?
“I will not shut up. I will not be silenced by men who prioritise applause from Stonewall over the safety of women and girls,” Badenoch tweeted on Tuesday. “[Tennant is] a rich, lefty, white male celebrity so blinded by ideology he can’t see the optics of attacking the only black woman in government by calling publicly for my existence to end. Tennant is one of Labour’s celebrity supporters. This is an early example of what life will be like if they win.”
Two things, here:
First, Kemi, you may as well shell out for Twitter Blue X Premium (what?), you haven’t got any public respect or goodwill left to lose and your stupid tweets will be easier to screenshot.
Second, I’m not entirely sure where Kemi Badenoch gets off judging anybody’s wealth considering she comes from substantial money and, prior to assuming her role as Britain’s only black and reactionary elected official, worked in consultancy and financial services for private banks. As opposed to Tennant, whose father was a minister. Not a business magnate. Unlike somebody else’s father.
More intriguing than Badenoch’s lukewarm reply, however, is Rishi Sunak, Britain’s moistest prime minister, weighed in on the argument by declaring Badenoch’s abuse of governmental authority to harm an oppressed minority a matter of “free speech,” and deriding Tennant as “the problem” in this great culture war.
Meanwhile, heir apparent to the parliamentary throne of Britain, elite human flapjack Keir Starmer, said, “I think in politics, as in life, it’s really important that we are able to robustly disagree with others.” Considering Starmer is now using the well known dog whistle “gender ideology” to suggest that he doesn’t want anybody talking about the icky transes in schools and recently said he’d love to meet Queen of Transphobia JK Rowling because he “respects her views,” I think it’s fair to say that the HMS Starmer is well and truly sunk.
Anyway, what Badenoch, Sunak and Starmer think isn’t important. Let’s close out with some of the other times Tennant has been an absolutely killer ally:
In early 2023, he was spotted wearing a pin cast in the colors of the nonbinary flag on his suit jacket during more than one public appearance. Some fans speculate this is to support one of his five children.
In July of 2023 he was seen wearing a t-shirt with the fantastic phrase “Leave trans kids alone you absolute freaks” printed on the front.
In November of 2023 he wore a TARDIS pin with the colors of the trans flag on it, which pin creator Dr. Jamie Gallagher said generated thousands of pounds in sales which were donated to LGBTQ+ homeless charity AKT.
More recently, Tennant wore a tee with “You will have to go through me” printed on the front in the colors of the trans flag to his kids’ school’s Pride celebrations, and turned up to the Mean Girls The Musical premier sporting nail polish and, once again, a nonbinary pin attached to his shirt.
As you can see, while Kemi Badenoch and her ilk have been busy trying to destroy innocent queer children, David Tennant has been loudly and proudly supporting not just the queer people he loves, but LGBTQ+ people all over the world. I think that makes it pretty clear who’s worth listening to in this “debate.”
Alyssa Steinsiek is a professional writer who spends too much time playing video games!
