The Proclaimers Call Trans Rights Activists Truth-Phobic and Defend Graham Linehan
Duo The Proclaimers, formed of twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid, have condemned transgender activists as “truth-phobic” while defending controversial television creator Graham Linehan. Speaking in an interview with The Times to promote their studio album You May Offend, the Scottish musicians criticized the Scottish National Party’s 2022 Gender Recognition Reform bill and argued that public discourse is constrained by cancel culture.
The Battle Over Biological Reality and Free Speech
The conversation surrounding the new album—the follow-up to the duo’s 12th studio record Dentures Out, which dropped in 2022—quickly turned toward cultural friction and the boundaries of public speech. According to the interview published by The Telegraph, Craig Reid expressed sharp disagreement with legislation that eases the legal gender recognition process in Scotland. He claimed the policy has caused real damage by allowing violent men, including convicted rapists, into women’s prisons.
https://x.com/Telegraph/status/2097678981101195404
Clarifying his stance, Craig Reid stated: “I’m not transphobic. I’m not against a man identifying as a woman, dressing as a woman. I’m not against any of that. All I’m against is saying that he actually is a woman when he’s not a woman.” He further alleged that critics of biological definitions are frequently shouted down by a minute fraction of the population. “A lot of these folk are basically truth-phobic. They’ll deny the biological reality. Then if you insist on it, they’ll say that you are hurting their feelings. That you’re disrespecting them. But I respect reality and scientific fact, not myth,” he added.
Charlie Reid echoed these sentiments regarding the chilling effect on public commentary, noting that the album was conceived in response to an environment where people fear professional repercussions for speaking their minds.
Defending Graham Linehan Amid Industry Fallout
The brothers used the platform to defend Father Ted creator Graham Linehan, whose career suffered severe blowback due to his vocal opposition to gender self-identification and trans-rights concepts. Linehan’s public positions have previously resulted in a temporary Twitter ban in 2022 for posts such as “Men aren’t women tho”, a verbal police harassment warning in 2018 following an online dispute, and the cancellation of a planned Father Ted musical in 2022.
Charlie Reid addressed the industry ostracization faced by the writer. “None of his pals stood up for him. I wouldn’t agree with everything Linehan says any more than I would do with J.K. Rowling, but you’ve got the right to stand up for science and logic,” Charlie shared. “And in his case, it’s a tragedy. He lost his career for telling the truth.”
Linehan’s ongoing culture-war flashpoints have frequently drawn sharp retorts from musical acts and actors alike. In 2023, he engaged in a public dispute with the punk band Lambrini Girls after they advocated for trans rights during a live performance. Lambrini Girls responded on social media by pointing to elevated suicide rates among transgender youth stemming from societal hostility and barriers to vital gender-affirming care.
Additional figures from Linehan’s professional past have occasionally weighed in on the wider media framing. Chris O’Dowd, who starred as Roy Trenneman in the Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd created and directed by Linehan, remarked last year that he wished the press would engage directly with Linehan rather than stoking systemic division for profit.
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