It’s safe to say it’s been a pretty wild couple of weeks for Doctor Who star David Tennant and his family.
On June 21, he picked up an LGBT+ Celebrity Ally award at the British LGBT Awards, and he used the opportunity to criticize transphobic Tory politician Kemi Badenoch. He said, “I don’t wish ill of her, I just wish her to shut up,” and all hell immediately broke loose.
You see, David Tennant reportedly has a non-binary child, and so he’s very outspoken indeed about transgender rights. Like any good parent, he’s not about to suffer threats to his children. (And he wears his thoughts loud and clear on his t-shirts.)
Tennant’s comment soon turned into a full-out row. Badenoch condemned him, J.K. Rowling condemned him because of course she did, and after that the—now ex! Hooray!—Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also complained, saying, “If you’re calling for women to shut up and wishing they didn’t exist, you are the problem.” Damn right Tennant is a problem (for bigots)—any good ally and father in his position would be.
The Tories just suffered a crushing election loss
Yesterday, the U.K. went to the polling booths and voted the Tories out. Labour won by a landslide, and while they have their own problems with transphobia, on the whole, Britain has breathed a sigh of relief. The Tories ran the country into the ground. Rishi Sunak is now gone, and Keir Starmer is Prime Minister.
And David Tennant and his wife Georgia (another Doctor Who star!) have some pretty funny thoughts about the election results—well, funny at first, and then they get serious. First, Georgia used Instagram Stories to post a shot of herself and David celebrating on the London Eye, along with the hashtag #turnsouthedidlooktired.
This is a great joke if you’re familiar with the Doctor Who episode “The Christmas Invasion.” At the end of the episode, Prime Minister Harriet Jones orders her forces to fire on a ship full of enemy aliens even though they’re retreating. The Doctor is appalled by her actions and decides to bring her down “with just six words.” He whispers to a member of her staff, “Don’t you think she looks tired?” sparking a rumor that Jones is unfit for office.
While Harriet Jones later redeemed herself, it seems unlikely the same will ever be said of Rishi Sunak. But the Tennants aren’t letting Keir Starmer off the hook, either. Georgia called out their poor record on trans rights by posting another, much more serious, image on her Instagram account. This one was an image of the trans flag with the words “Now do not let any of them rest until they protect and cherish all of us.”
Well said. It remains to be seen if the Labour party will improve conditions for transgender people in Britain.
