So now we know why transgender-rights activists are so keen on No Platforming speakers and shutting down debate. Gender Wars, a Channel 4 documentary which aired last night, explores whether someone’s sex or gender identity is what makes them a man or a woman. Its main focus is Kathleen Stock, a feminist philosopher who was hounded from her post at the University of Sussex in 2021 over her gender-critical beliefs. Over the course of an hour, we hear different perspectives on ‘one of the most polarising issues of our times’. Yet less than half of this is needed to expose the ignorance, entitlement and narcissism that seems to drive many campaigners for trans rights.

In many ways, Gender Wars is an unremarkable programme. It barely scratches the surface of what is at stake when sex is superseded by gender. There is no deep dive into anatomy or psychology. It does not explore women’s sports or the treatment of gender-confused children. It focusses less on discussions of biological facts or the moral rights and wrongs of gender self-identification, than on how gender-critical feminists, like Stock and Julie Bindel, and transgender-rights activists, like Stephen Whittle and Finn Mackay, feel about engaging in such a ferocious debate.