Suzanne Lynn Moore (born 17 July 1958)
is an English journalist and gender-critical campaigner.
Early life and education
Moore is the daughter of an American father and a working-class British mother, who split up during her childhood.
As a child, she was told that her mother had been adopted in infancy when her adoptive parents found her in a
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
orphanage following their only son's death. Moore said: "The older I get, the more I see that the story I was told cannot possibly be true, and that my mother was probably not a tiny baby at all when she was adopted." She grew up in
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
and attended
Northgate Grammar School for Girls.
Moore ran away from home at 16 and moved out aged 17 to live in a bedsit.
After various jobs in Britain and overseas, including waitressing, shop work and door-to-door sales, Moore embarked on a
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
degree at
Middlesex Polytechnic, but soon switched to
cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...
. She began a
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
and journalism career simultaneously after graduation, but ceased work on her doctorate after 18 months.
Career
Moore has written for ''
Marxism Today'', ''
The Mail on Sunday
''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. Founded in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first published i ...
'', the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'', ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'',
''The Telegraph'' and the ''
New Statesman
''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
''. In ''The Guardian'' in 1995, Moore falsely stated that
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century.
Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...
had undergone a
hysterectomy
Hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus and cervix. Supracervical hysterectomy refers to removal of the uterus while the cervix is spared. These procedures may also involve removal of the ovaries (oophorectomy), fallopian tubes ( salpi ...
at 25. Greer responded by criticising Moore's hair, cleavage and footwear. Moore was the winner of the
Orwell Prize
The Orwell Prize is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a board of trustees. Four prizes are award ...
for Journalism in 2019.
In March 2020, following the publication of an opinion piece written by Moore, titled "Women must have the right to organise. We will not be silenced" in ''The Guardian'', the paper received a letter, with over 200 signatories, which rejected Moore's implication that "advocating for
trans rights poses a threat to
cisgender
The word ''cisgender'' (often shortened to ''cis''; sometimes ''cissexual'') describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is not ''transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is Latin and ...
women". The letter was signed by politicians such as
Siân Berry
Siân Rebecca Berry (; born 9 July 1974) is a British politician who has served as the member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion since July 2024, succeeding Caroline Lucas. She was a co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales alongsid ...
,
Christine Jardine
Christine Anne Jardine (born 24 November 1960) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh West since 2017. She has been the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Women and Equalities, and ...
,
Nadia Whittome
Nadia Edith Whittome (, born 29 August 1996) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Nottingham East since 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she was previously the youngest MP upon her election at the age of 23. She ...
and
Zarah Sultana
Zarah Sultana (born 31 October 1993) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry South since the 2019 general election. She was a Labour Party MP until her suspension in July 2024 as one of seven La ...
, and writers and journalists including
Ash Sarkar and
Reni Eddo-Lodge. The newspaper published the letter alongside others received in response to the article, both supportive and critical.
In September of the same year,''The Telegraph'' wrote that Moore "had to have police protection some years back as a result of voicing an unpopular opinion and she has been deluged with abuse, rape and death threats online, even threats to rape her children."
On 16 November 2020, Moore announced she had left ''The Guardian.''
It had been her primary place of employment since the 1990s.
In ''
UnHerd
''UnHerd'' is a British news and opinion website founded in July 2017 which describes itself as a platform for slow journalism.
History
''UnHerd'' was founded in 2017 by the hedge fund manager Paul Marshall as its owner and publisher and co ...
'', she later wrote that when she had attempted to write "about female experience belonging to people with female bodies... it is always
subbed out" by editorial. Moore added that she had never fit in at ''The Guardian,'' saying: "The personal becomes political at the moment you never feel clean enough. I was always somehow inappropriate
here
Here may refer to:
Music
* ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994
* ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016
* ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979
* ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012
* ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004
* ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...
"
Politics
Moore opposed the
2003 invasion of Iraq and wrote several articles criticising the
Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
.
Moore stood as an independent candidate for the constituency of
Hackney North and Stoke Newington in the
2010 UK general election due to her disillusionment with the main political parties.
She finished sixth with 0.6% of the vote, losing to the
Labour incumbent
Diane Abbott
Diane Julie Abbott (born 27 September 1953) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has been serving as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987 Unit ...
and forfeiting her deposit.
Personal life
Moore has lived in
Hackney, London, since the early 1990s. She is a single mother, with three daughters from various relationships.
Moore is a
republican.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Suzanne
1958 births
Living people
Alumni of Middlesex University
Daily Mail journalists
English journalists
English republicans
Independent British political candidates
The Guardian journalists
The Independent people
New Statesman people
People educated at Northgate Grammar School, Ipswich
Writers from Ipswich