The Safeguarding Issue The Arts World Doesn't Want To Talk About

Plus jobs, more jobs, a couple of re-imagined Victorian classics and the re-launching of the Howard Opera Centre

It’s been a strange week. With mainstream events thin on the ground, I selected a performance art piece at The Tetley in Leeds: Ro Hardaker’s This Feeling Might Manifest. As part of the showing there was a talk, which was billed as “Hardaker will hold a live online conversation with Matt Kennedy about violence, transgender identity, access (to sports) and haptic* encounters.”

I can be over-literal at times: Since violence was on the agenda, I thought I would ask how frequently gender ideology is being used to excuse or cloak predatory behaviour, and whether this issue is being addressed by the movement.

My question wasn’t accepted — instead I got a polite email saying it wasn’t an appropriate forum and re-directing me to TransLeeds and Non Binary Leeds.

Fair enough.

But I did attend the online talk — and grew increasingly bemused (not to say bored) as, for over an hour, two professional trans persons steeped in an identical world view agreed with each other.

The discussion wasn’t really a…