Helen Joyce talks to Julie Bindel

Gender critical journalist and feminist campaigner Helen Joyce talks about her Sunday Times bestselling book on the transgender debate.

Joyce offers an analysis of a world in which biological sex is no longer accepted as a fact of life. Joyce says she accepts that trans rights should mean compassionate concessions that allow a suffering minority to live in safety and dignity. However, she argues against gender identity ideology, the idea that people should count as men or women depending on how they identify rather than their biology. Trans was a Times, Spectator and Observer book of the year in 2021.

‘In the first decade of this century, it was unthinkable that a gender-critical book could even be published by a prominent publishing house, let alone become a bestseller.’ Louise Perry, New Statesman

Joyce worked for The Economist in a variety of roles including education editor, Brazil correspondent, international editor and finance editor. She took leave of absence in 2022 to work with human rights organisation Sex Matters, which campaigns for clarity about the two sexes, and is now a full-time campaigner on the issue. Here she talks to fellow journalist and feminist campaigner Julie Bindel, author of Feminism for Women: The Real Route to Liberation and Lesbians: Where are we Now? The event is introduced by lawyer and philosopher Professor Gary Francione.