Dear Abhinandan,

Let me begin by apologizing about the length of this email. Hopefully, this will be my last word on this topic.

I’ll start by speaking to your concerns about the acerbic nature of recent email exchanges that you voiced at the end of the last episode. Just because your subscribers hold your feet to the fire does not mean you are unliked or undervalued. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I expend my time and energy listening to and writing in with feedback because, like many of your listeners, I am quite fond of you and value the work that you do. Please know that our critiques come from a sincere place, motivated by the desire to see you and NL do better. 

Before I respond to the questions you raised regarding transgender rights, I want to share this quote by novelist Zadie Smith that has served me well in my career as an intellectual. In an essay titled Changing my Mind, Smith writes, “Changing my mind, for me, is practically an article of faith.” As one of the leading literary figures of the 21st century, Smith’s admission that she is not only open to but expects her opinions and ideas to be challenged and her ideology to be changed is a radical proposition. Regardless of our education and vocation, I think we can all learn from Smith that ideological inconsistencies and intellectual evolution is not only healthy for our society, but also inevitable. What troubles me in your response to my last week’s email are statements like, “I’m too old for this terminology to get it correct.” 

I don’t expect you to change your mind on the issue of safe restroom access for transpeople based on a “few subscriber emails” alone. However, I implore you to read up on the latest science on gender and sexual development among humans and animals. It proves, unequivocally, that we neither fit seamlessly into the binary of “male” and “female”, nor are we predisposed to life-long heterosexual monogamous pair-bonding. I’m preparing an annotated bibliography with references for you and your listeners to follow shortly. The issue of LGBTQHI rights, including the right for safe bathroom access for transpeople, is an issue of human rights. It is not akin to shifting political allegiances (as you had implied). It is more akin to your stance on slavery and human bondage – whether you are for slavery or against? 

This is important because, as you stated, you have the “bully pulpit”. When you make irresponsible remarks comparing transpeople’s plight regarding safe restroom access to that of the Queen of England (in a recent Hafta episode) or introducing a hypothetical figure of a transwoman as a monstrous criminal (“a six-foot-four man accused of murdering five children and ripping their heads off”) for the sake of arguing, you are not only voicing your own transphobia, you are also giving license to your listeners to indulge in such dehumanising ideology.

After the issue of safe bathroom access, the inability for the criminal justice system to guarantee the human rights of transgender inmates is the next major issue that needs to be addressed – to make sure they are not subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. Transgender women are disproportionately more likely to end up in prisons worldwide, not for murdering babes as you might imagine but because they have to engage in sex work which often is their only source of income in a society that treats them like pariahs. Your irresponsible rhetoric on transgender issues is likely to have real-life consequences. So, I urge you to be more considerate in what you say moving forward. 

Thank you for inviting me to discuss the topic in person. I am a cis-man who studies masculinity in India. I don’t have the sufficient expertise or the life experience to speak on transgender rights from a place of authority. I would be happy to put you in touch with transfolk who are more appropriate for such a dialogue, as long as you (Abhinandan Sekhri) are willing to be an active participant in that conversation, and demonstrate a willingness to change your mind. 

With love and gratitude, 

Harjant Gill  

Associate Professor, Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice

Towson University, Maryland, US