Sandi Toksvig, Cambridge alumna and current Q+ Fellow, has denounced “anti-trans” radical feminists in an interview with iNews.

Toksvig, recently chosen as Cambridge’s first Q+ fellow, has said that she is “so distressed by people who call themselves ‘radical feminists’ but are anti-trans” that she “could weep”.

Speaking to iNews ahead of her role as concert host for the London Gay Men’s Chorus’ festive show A Winter’s Tale, she said: “When the feminist movement started in the 60s and 70s, lesbians were often excluded, because we were told that we would make the movement less palatable.”

“I have been excluded myself, so how could I do that to someone else? It fills me with rage,” she continued.

Toksvig is a co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party, a UK political party formed in 2015 aiming “to unite people of all genders, ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, beliefs and experience to realise a future where gender equality is the norm.”

Discussing this part of her career, Toksvig said: “I’ve been an activist all of my life. It’s a core part of who I am [...] We’re here, we’re making noise – and we’re not going away.”

Toksvig also took aim at the Lords Spiritual, the group of Church of England bishops who sit in the House of Lords. She criticised their stance on the LGBTQ+ community, and called for their removal.

“It’s shocking. They don’t deal with gay people or women in an equitable manner. And they aren’t some sort of obscure organisation – this is our state church,” she said.

Toksvig met with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in January after he defended the right of churches to deny same-sex marriages. Following the meeting, she described Welby’s position on the matter as “untenable”.

Toksvig has faced backlash following last week’s remarks, with radical feminist Julie Bindel criticising the comedian in The Spectator.