Sandi Toksvig has definitely done some good things.

When Toksvig came out in 1994, she became one of the most visible lesbian women in British public life. She tells me coming out was about setting an example to her children with former partner, Peta Stewart. “I had three small children and my youngest had just been born. My then-partner and I were not prepared for them to grow up in the shadow of a secret,” she says.

At the time, Section 28 prohibited their own children from learning about LGBTQ+ people in school. “It was more important to me to be a good mum than it was for me to have a career. Everyone told me that my career would be over, but standing up for what you believe in in front of your children – that’s more important.”

Her career didn’t end there. Far from it. Toksvig has become a household name – and has built a loyal queer following – while also using her platform to campaign for equality. In 2015, she founded the Women’s Equality Party. At the last election the new party stood five candidates and, if funding allows, they hope to do so again.

For now, Toksvig’s focus is on the removal of unelected Church of England bishops from the House of Lords. There are only two countries in the world where representatives of the state religion automatically get seats in parliament: the UK and Iran. She wants to make that a party of one, because of the Church of England’s opposition to same-sex marriage and its institutionalised misogyny. (The church is exempt from UK equalities law, so this discrimination is entirely legal).

Another good reason is because theocracy is a really bad idea. Gods can’t be held accountable, not least because they don’t exist.

“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,” Toksvig says. “None of them have been elected. This is our parliament and it’s not OK. Be a bigot if you want to, in your own back yard – but don’t come and play in mine.”

There shouldn’t be any state church. She’s completely right on this one.

She is disturbed by the recent rise in reports of homophobic hate crime and the anti-trans moral panic that has been peddled by politicians and media figures. “I am so distressed by people who call themselves ‘radical feminists’ but are anti-trans. I could weep. I don’t get it. It’s beyond me,” she says. “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 [acceptable]. I have been excluded myself, so how could I do that to someone else? It fills me with rage.”

So socialists should not exclude conservatives from their socialism? Unions should not exclude bosses? Football should not exclude tennis players? Marathons should not exclude cars?

Get a grip. Feminism is about and by and for women. Lesbians are women. Men are not women. Excluding men from feminism, even men who call themselves women, is not comparable to excluding lesbians from feminism.