A liberal opinion writer has been called a "bully" after siding with pupils who hounded a girl out of her school for questioning trans ideology.
Guardian columnist Owen Jones escalated his feud with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling after she condemned the shocking bullying of a sixth-form girl after she disagreed with a female member of the House of Lords who gave a lecture on 'Transphobia in Parliament' at her school in Scotland.
The Times reported that a group of up to 60 other girls surrounded the girl and "shouted, screamed and spat at her". The girl managed to escape the mob but soon collapsed, unable to breathe properly.
"The language she was using was implying critical theory took precedence over biological reality in defining women," the 18-year-old told the newspaper. "When I questioned that, she said it wasn’t an issue of semantics. She said trans people don’t have basic human rights in this country. Afterwards, I spoke to her and said I’m sorry if I came across as rude."
The girl has since left her school and is studying for her A-Level exams from home.
Rowling called the incident "Utterly shameful" in a tweet. "The girl's crime? Saying 'sex exists'."
"Add this to the tottering pile of evidence that people in education and academia who're supposed to have a duty of care towards the young have succumbed to an outbreak of quasi-religious fanaticism," the best-selling authoress wrote.
Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Joanna Cherry QC, who is openly lesbian and has criticised her own party's support for "self-identification" rights for transgender people, joined Rowling in condemning the incident.
"A girl who said that biological sex is real after a talk about transphobia was surrounded by up to 60 girls who shouted, swore & spat at her. She did not receive the support of the school & is now studying at home for her A levels," Cherry tweeted.
But Jones, who has repeated attacked so-called 'TERFs' — Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists — for refusing to accept biologically-male transsexuals, claimed the incident never happened. He pointed to the Times re-leading the story to focus on Rowling's tweet as evidence that the story was not founded in fact.
"I need your help!" Jones tweeted. "This 'story' — claiming 60 girls drove a girl out of a school for 'questioning trans ideology' — doesn't include their side of the story or even name the school. I want to speak anonymously to these girls for their story, so please RT!"
That povoked a social media storm, as other feminists accused the Guardian writer of trying to "doxx" the victim and of siding with her bullies. The hashtag #OwenJonesIsABully was trending on Twitter.
"What a nasty, cruel person he has become," posted Rowling ally Julie Bindel. "This poor girl, with all she has been through (yes, I DO know the background, and it is all true) and now this bully comes after her, calling her a liar. It is beyond misogynistic."
Jones tried to claim victimhood for himself, accusing Bindel and The Times of "whipping up an unhinged firestorm".
Guardian columnist Owen Jones accuses feminist writer Julie Bindel of defamation after he asked schoolgirls who bullied a classmate to tell him their side of the story
But that just prompted more ridicule of the liberal scribbler.
Jones later posted a video online, doubling down on his scepticism towards the bullied girl, who he said had "dissented on the issue of trans rights" by believing in biological sex. That predictably drew more mockery.
The Guardian was recently forced to deny that it had disciplined Jones for bullying after Private Eye magazine reported that a complaint against him by a female colleague for attacking her online had been upheld.