Oxfam drops Wonder Women bingo game featuring JK Rowling after trans protests
OXFAM has bowed to the transgender lobby by withdrawing a children’s bingo game celebrating ‘inspirational women’ from sale in its stores and online.
One feminist said Wonder Women Bingo may have become a target for activists because it featured Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who has been attacked for questioning the idea that trans women are identical to biological women.
The game, which sold for £14.99, uses pictures of 48 famous women rather than numbers on cards that are matched with tokens showing the same female figures, including Jane Austen, US civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, climate-change activist Greta Thunberg and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
But in an email last week, the charity told staff: ‘We have taken the decision to withdraw the product Wonder Women Bingo as it has been brought to our attention that it is not in line with Oxfam’s values.’
Oxfam, which campaigns to end poverty and improve women’s rights, told The Mail on Sunday last night it had cleared the game from its shelves after transgender staff complained it was ‘offensive’.
It added: ‘We took the decision to remove the game from sale following concerns raised by trans and non-binary colleagues who told us it didn’t live up to our commitment to respect people of all genders.’
Women criticised the decision, including Labour MP Rosie Duffield MP, who decided not to attend her party conference last month after receiving threats from trans activists for insisting that ‘only women have a cervix’.
‘I am disappointed Oxfam considers taking a political view of gender identity politics more important than raising as much money as possible for those most in need,’ she said. ‘The track record of some charities with regards to women’s rights has been far from good, and discriminating against some women due to their beliefs will do nothing to repair that.’
Feminist campaigner Julie Bindel suggested the game may have been ditched because it includes Rowling and fellow author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who have challenged the transgender belief that there is no difference between trans and biological women.
Ms Bindel also suspects Oxfam feared a backlash because Canadian actor Elliot Page, who now identifies as a ‘transgender guy’, is pictured in the game as Ellen Page, having been born a girl. She added: ‘Yet again trans ideology that’s captured so much of society has prevailed over women’s rights and women’s experience. Oxfam should be ashamed of themselves. They were so lax in dealing with men who were accused of sexually exploiting vulnerable girls and women, yet they rush to remove a game celebrating women.’
In April, a female aid worker quit
Oxfam over its ‘toxic culture’ and said it ignored her sexual harassment claims. Staff were also exposed in sexual misconduct scandals in Haiti and Africa. Danny Sriskandarajah, the chief executive brought in to clean up Oxfam, was accused of covering up a sex scandal while boss of the Royal Commonwealth Society, which he denies.
Laurence King Publishing, which created the game, said it supported the LGBT community, adding: ‘Wonder Women Bingo was released 18 months prior to Elliot Page’s transition.
‘As soon as his transition became public knowledge, we commissioned a replacement. We offered Oxfam… the updated product.’