A special unit set up by the Premier League to root out racism was used to comb through comments made by Linzi Smith, a gay female Newcastle fan, to find evidence that she believes – shock, horror! – sex is binary and immutable.
A female football fan was banned from matches over social media posts that were deemed transphobic after a ‘Stasi’ spying investigation by the Premier League.
A special unit set up to root out racism in the game was used to comb through comments made by Linzi Smith, a gender-critical Newcastle United supporter, even though the posts had nothing to do with football. Gender-critical people believe transgender women are not women.
Ms. Smith, who is gay and promotes lesbian, gay and bisexual rights and women’s rights, was put under investigation by the police, the Premier League and Newcastle United after expressing strong views on trans ideology on her personal account on X, formerly Twitter.
The 34-year-old was shocked to discover that the Premier League had compiled a dossier detailing where she lives, works and where she walked her dog. The 11-page “target profile”, marked confidential, included data on “associated aliases” and “vulnerabilities”.
She was interviewed under caution by police after the dossier was handed to officers by Newcastle United. Officers took just two hours to inform her that she had not committed any crime, but the club, which had spent four months looking into her background, revoked her membership and banned her from games until 2026.
