UK cops cuffed and stuffed Irish comedy writer – and Maine trans critic –Graham Linehan earlier this week for posting anti-trans tweets on X.
Linehan, 57, said he was arrested Monday at Heathrow Airport after arriving from Arizona.
The Metropolitan Police didn’t name Linehan but said it had arrested a man at the airport on suspicion of inciting violence in posts on X.
Linehan, a controversial figure known for his anti-transgender activism that has led to him being jailed and banned from social-media platforms, has enjoyed many a poke at the expense of Maine’s pro-transgender activists.
In a March post on X, formerly Twitter, Linehan praised an anti-trans op-ed in the Bangor Daily News written by two “lifelong feminists” who oppose Maine’s transgender student-athlete policy allowing boys in girls sports.
The op-ed was by Jennifer Gingrich and Christy Hammer, co-directors of New England Women’s Solidarity, a Scarborough-based feminist organization dedicated to the protection of women’s sex-based rights.
Following the publication of the op-ed, Linehan posted on X encouraging Maine author Stephen King to “pay attention” to their premise.
Two days before his arrest, Linehan retweeted a post citing “the similarity between Stephen King’s book ‘Misery’ and what @BoyGeorge was convicted for.”
Four days before his arrest he called out King on X for being “a silly old fool.”
Linehan’s social-media activity has also blasted Maine’s trans community for seeking special privilege.
In May, he praised a U.S. Supreme Court decision restoring voting rights to state Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, who’d been censured for an anti-trans post. Linehan said the decision was a victory for those with traditional views of sexuality.
The arrest this week of Linehan, co-creator of British sitcoms Father Ted and The IT Crowd, stemmed from his allegedly inciting violence over controversial social-media posts criticizing transgender people.
Linehan has widely publicized his scepticism of gender self-identification, objecting to “privileged white people saying you must accept anyone who says they are a woman.”
