The virtue-signallers who want to ban male-only choirs are missing the point about discrimination

name of an entirely abstracted drive to equality.

When they came for equal pay, I cried: “You go, girl.” We need to solve the fact that work done by women is often paid less and respected less — I’m in.

When they came for male-only clubs, I nodded. Today’s snaggle-toothed Wykehamists clearly have no right to select members on the basis of gender — away with the lot of them.

But when they came for my singing men I refused to stand by in silence. No t h i n g d e l ive rs s u c h u n b r i d l e d ra p t u re a s a n a l l-ma l e c h o i r. Th e opening number at my funeral will be a rousing chorus of Rachmaninoff‘s Vocalise, so keep your grubby, uncouth hands off.

There are clearly times when

it

is utterly fine to have all-male or allfemale spaces. London has many gayand lesbian-only establishments. I don’t think anybody would argue they are doing any harm. Quite the contrary — they act as a safe space for a historically marginalised group.

We seem to live in an age rapidly abandoning any desire to consider nuance. Show me a policy and demonstrate the harm it’s doing and I’ll dig out some comfy shoes and protest by your side. Otherwise, keep your gob shut and let me listen to the sublime voices of the Dunvant Male Choir.

Now, I get that my interest in ageing boy-music isn’t cool. What matters more to me is fairness