Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jeremy Clarkson's comments towards transgender people stir controversy

'Transgender issues are driving me nuts,' says presenter

Maya Oppenheim
Sunday 24 January 2016 18:53 GMT
Comments
Jeremy Clarkson's comments about the parents of Trans children and Trans prisoners raise controversy
Jeremy Clarkson's comments about the parents of Trans children and Trans prisoners raise controversy (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Jeremy Clarkson has sparked controversy with remarks about transgender.

Writing in the Sunday Times, the former Top Gear presenter argued that the problems faced by trans people had been overstated.

“As far as I was concerned, men who want to be women were only really to be found on the internet or in the seedier bits of Bangkok," he wrote.

“They were called ladyboys, and in my mind they were nothing more than the punchline in a stag night anecdote.”

In his column titled ‘Transgender issues are driving me nuts’, the 55-year-old also criticised the parents of trans children and trans prisoners.

He referred to the parents of a child of some “friends of friends”, saying “her parents had simply indulged this whim” when she expressed doubts about her sexuality.

Clarkson added: “But they must not, and I was going to emphasise this with spittle, be allowed to poison the mind of a child."

He was condemned for his comments on social media.

The former presenter, who was sacked by the BBC last year, also discussed the plight of trans prisoners in the Isle of Wight.

“Can’t anyone see, I wailed, that this is what’s going on in the Isle of Wight nick?” he asked.

“They tell the screws they want to be women, they get a bit of make-up and some breasts to play with and they are then transferred to a women’s prison, where they can spend the rest of their lives being a lesbian. It’s every man’s dream”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in