British composer Christian Henson "takes break" after backlash for supporting JK Rowling

Spitfire Audio has released a statement after its co-founder Christian Henson shared the "wrong opinions" on gender ID--saying they must "do better".

We truly live in tricky times. Many of us woke up one day, went to work and found ourselves being ‘asked’ to affirm things we know not to be true should we wish to remain in employment.

There is a list of pre-approved opinions on the issue of gender and any deviation from this scripture is to be met with the total destruction of one’s reputation and livelihood. That is the deal we are being offered by those whose ideology was born 5 minutes ago and should rightly be considered a form of gender flat-earthism.

It’s a remarkable feat of gender activism to have convinced people that any disagreement on this score is “punching down” whilst also commanding the full punitive power of academia, media, celebrity, law, employers and practically any other institution you care to name.

Put simply, this debate has become far too risky for sensible people—assuming they desire to continue paying their bills. So it’s not surprising that many would simply check out of this argument altogether. I’ve lost count of the number of private messages I receive that begin with a variation of “I can’t say this publicly because of my job..” This chilling effect on free speech wouldn’t be so worrying were the stakes not so astronomically high.

This is one of the reasons having someone like JK Rowling speak up on this issue—in the compassionate and measured way that she does—is utterly invaluable. Anyone that thinks this has been a doddle for Rowling is surely mistaken however. The endless death threats, character assassinations and defamation would take its toll on anyone.

But the point is, she cannot be threatened with financial ruin and forced to fall in line like the rest of us can. The favoured tactics of the gender ideologue are powerless when pointed in the direction of someone too rich to be "cancelled”. Rowling cannot be forced to repent and that’s what they hate about her the most. And in turn, this has inspired other people to find their voice on the issue. Or so it would have seemed.

This brings me to British composer Christian Henson. Christian has credits in Movies, TV and videogames and is also the co-founder of a music technology company called ‘Spitfire Audio’.

On the 5th of September, Christian shared a YouTube video on Twitter and added the following text:

“As a parent I can no longer keep my mouth shut about this. I’m in full support of glinner & @jk_rowling. Please look into this. If you have young children it’s in the post if you have autistic children it’s probably already on your doormat”

The video in question is one of comedy writer Graham Linehan heavily criticising comedian Stewart Lee for denying the existence of “cancel culture” and generally how overly-impressed Stewart Lee is with the fact that he is Stewart Lee:

As you may have predicted, Christian’s tweet received a lot of pushback from those with cartoon profile pictures, pronouns in their bio and too much time on they/thems hands.

Less than 24 hours later Christian Henson had deactivated his Twitter account and the company he co-founded released the following statement (full text below image):

Spitfire Audio @SpitfireAudio

A message from Spitfire Audio's CEO.

Full text:

Christian's tweet has caused hurt amongst our community. This hurt is obviously being extended as a reflection on Spitfire Audio, its collaborators and its employees. I'm deeply sorry for that; we've worked hard to be a beacon for the industry and have a responsibility to do better. Christian's views are his own, and as a company we are committed to building an inclusive environment for our employees, collaborators and customers. Christian is going to take a break as we reflect on how to move forward. In the meantime, please accept my apologies on behalf of Spitfire Audio. Best, Will Evans CEO. Spitfire Audio

So, to summarise, we are told Christian is ‘going to take a break’ because of the ‘hurt’ caused by his comments. Not for attacking trans people in general or even trans individuals—but for expressing concern for the impact gender ideology will have and has had on children. The tenets of gender ideology now appear to be more worthy of protection from different opinions than sincere safeguarding concerns about children.

Christian’s comments were not made in a vacuum. They were made in a climate where the largest gender identity clinic in the UK was recently closed down for a host of failings concerning its young patients. The clinic is currently facing mass legal action for prescribing puberty blockers to vulnerable children. And today, it was reported from Scotland that gender ideology being pushed in schools has led to children being bullied for not falling in line or getting it ‘wrong’.

Although the language in the statement from Spitfire Audio suggests it was Christian’s own decision to “take a break”, it would come as no surprise to anyone were it revealed he was pushed. Which might just get tricky for UK-based company Spitfire Audio given the recent conclusion of the Maya Forstater and Allison Bailey cases. Both women won their cases on the grounds that their employers had discriminated against them based on their gender critical beliefs. The judge agreed and ruled that these beliefs—namely that biological sex is real and immutable—should be considered a protected philosophical belief.

Regretfully, I can’t see any way out of this problem now than taking it to the courts. When all reasonable attempts at dialogue are exhausted, or in most cases outright rejected, what is left for those on the end of an injustice?

It’s also been interesting to watch the complete transformation of Graham Linehan. Graham very much used to be someone that would enforce irrational progressive viewpoints right up until the moment he found himself on the receiving end of his former-tribe.

It’s unfortunate that Graham Linehan had to fall afoul of the very monster he had fed for years before he finally noticed the unreasonable nature of monsters. But unlike the woke, I don’t believe in the utter obliteration of the individual for their sins.

In September 2021, I was reporting from a women’s rights demonstration in Edinburgh when I spotted Graham Linehan in the crowd. I decide this was a perfect opportunity to pick a fight with him about his treatment of Mark Meechan during the infamous “Nazi pug” video controversy.

At the time of this controversy, rather than defend the right of comedians to make jokes without being arrested and convicted, Linehan reserved his ire for Mark Meechan instead, pushing the farcical notion that Mark was simply trying to trojan horse in “fascism and hatred” under the guise of comedy.

Much to my surprise, Graham was disarmingly reasonable and admitted that he had got that particular issue wrong when I asked him about it. You can see our interaction below:

This sort of public mea culpa strikes me as a rarity in the current climate, which makes me think Graham Linehan may be someone worth paying attention to on this issue—rather than his critics who would never even entertain the notion that they may be wrong.

I’d actually love to do a longform interview with Graham Linehan about this. I think he’d have a lot to teach me on the issue given where he was and where he is now. If anyone knows how to get in touch with him (I don’t, and I’ve looked), please let me know. UPDATE: I am now in touch with Graham and hope to arrange a discussion.