All primary school teacher Lucy Meadows ever wanted, she told her friend in an email, was to be herself. But after a columnist for the Daily Mail implied in a national publication that her transgender identity made her unfit to teach, she was hounded by the press.
In March 2013, she committed suicide -- and many trans activists feel that the Mail's coverage of Meadows must have contributed to her death.
This is not the first time that activists have taken the Mail to task about its coverage of transgender people. In September 2011, for example, writer James Slack referred to transgender and intersex people using scare quotes, as though to imply their gender identity was illegitimate.
It is high time that the Mail enact a comprehensive editorial policy that stresses sensitivity and compassion rather than sensationalism and fear-mongering, particularly with regard to the transgender community. Tell them to shape up their coverage of LGBT issues immediately!
In March 2013, she committed suicide -- and many trans activists feel that the Mail's coverage of Meadows must have contributed to her death.
This is not the first time that activists have taken the Mail to task about its coverage of transgender people. In September 2011, for example, writer James Slack referred to transgender and intersex people using scare quotes, as though to imply their gender identity was illegitimate.
It is high time that the Mail enact a comprehensive editorial policy that stresses sensitivity and compassion rather than sensationalism and fear-mongering, particularly with regard to the transgender community. Tell them to shape up their coverage of LGBT issues immediately!