Cheltenham Literary Festival is in a panic because – oh my god – people might have unpopular thoughts which they might utter aloud.

Cheltenham Literature Festival has come under fire after issuing a warning notice to speakers comparing gender-critical views with racism and homophobia.

The festival, which begins today, sent an email to people who are hosting talks at the event, asking them to follow new guidance “in order to protect both yourselves and the [festival] from complaints”. It said: “If, during any of your events, a speaker shares an opinion that could be deemed controversial, please reinforce that everyone is entitled to express an opinion, however Cheltenham Festivals [the organiser] does not endorse the views shared on stage. By controversial we mean those views that may be harmful to an individual or group of people, particularly those who have been historically marginalised or oppressed.”

So what did they lead with? I’ll give you one guess.

It gave a list of examples headed by “gender-critical views”. 

First item on the list, knowing that men are not women. That’s their peak historical marginalized and oppressed. Not women. Not women being treated the way the Taliban treats women. Not indigenous people, not enslaved people, not workers, not immigrants, not Jews, not Uighurs, not lesbians and gay men, but people who pretend to be the “gender” opposite their own. They lead the list; they are the most oppressed.

The list went on to include “misogyny; extreme political views including on migration, sexuality, gender, and military action; potentially problematic views on race, religion, or ethnicity; homophobia, including opinions linked to religion; extreme views on abortion and female reproductive health; widely disputed conspiracy theories”.

So, what does the festival want people to talk about then? Chocolate? The weather? Plums? Sealing wax? Tree houses?

Helen Joyce, the director of advocacy at the human rights charity Sex Matters, said: “Heaven forbid that a book festival should allow mention of biological reality without immediately distancing itself.

“It is of course outrageous to compare gender-critical views to racism or conspiracy theories. But Cheltenham Literature Festival is only revealing publicly the degree of hostility routinely suffered in private by gender-critical women in literary circles.

And political circles, and artistic circles, and sporting circles, and all the other circles, except the ones that form around men who claim to be women.