Declan Shalvey Under Fire For Donating £400 To Help Graham Linehan

"Down with this sort of thing. Careful, now."

Irish comic book creator Declan Shalvey, best known for comics such as Bog Bodies, Moon Knight, ThunderCats, X-Men, Mystique and Terminator, is also a big fan of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted, co-created by Graham Linehan. To the extent that he drew the character from the show Father Jack a few years ago, and was delighted when it was posted to then-Twitter by Linehan.

Linehan is also known for creating or co-creating TV shows such as Big Train, Black Books, The IT Crowd and Motherland, as well as working on The Fast Show, The Day Today, Brass Eye, and I’m Alan Partridge. But in recent years, he has gained new fame as an anti-transgender, or gender critical, activist, most notably comparing the treatment of gender dysphoric children to Nazi experimentation on BBC’s Newsnight. The fallout from this and other statements resulted in the cancellation of several of his projects, including a Father Ted stage musical, as well as the end of his marriage. He has also complained that his free speech has been impeded as a result, most notably being banned on Twitter for what was described “hateful conduct rules breach” before the social media company was bought by the gender critical Elon Musk, and Linehan’s account was restored

Last year, Linehan was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence when he posted a tweet that was initially interpreted by some as encouraging people to punch trans women, but he was not charged. It was in this light that the Free Speech Union, which promotes and defends very specific free speech cases, launched a fundraiser for Linehan, and Declan Shalvey donated £400 to that cause.

This week, the trans direct action group BASH BACK leaked a list of alleged donors to the Free Speech Union, including Declan Shalvey. The original list has now been deleted, but I was able to personally confirm the listing when it was live, and also that it was the comics writer/artist Declan Shalvey who was listed rather than someone with the same name. Comic book artist Ramon Villalobos posted a screenshot on BlueSky, which has seen hundreds of negative responses, including a terse “you wot?” from one of Declan’s creative collaborators and trans colourist Tamra Bonvillain. And a number of people vowing never to buy his work again.

Declan Shalvey has been a keen advocate for other free speech causes, including drawing the cover for the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund magazine, Defender, and donating to their fundraising efforts. I understand that Declan Shalvey’s donation to Linehan’s free speech fundraiser was intended in the same light. Shalvey also wrote and drew the Marvel Comics series Mystique, in which the lead character was established as being able to switch between genders. If not a traditional trans character, then certainly she was viewed as trans-adjacent. However, Declan Shalvey has chosen not to make any statement regarding this situation.