skirtcafe.org

JohnH wrote:Daryl,

With friends like that, who needs enemies?

Heh, I get to call them names too. The verbal abuse is constant and if it stops it's only because someone is pissed off over something. When verbal abuse is a game then when things get serious the only place left to go is to actually say what's on your mind rather than uttering some ridiculous insult.

pelmut wrote:A more recent example of The Times reporting transgender news:  A group of mostly transgender people raised a large sum of money for charity and The Times cut everything about them being transgender from the report.

Grateful to @thetimes for putting me in the paper, but it’s a shame editors chose to excise what I stressed to my sympathetic interviewer - this would not have been possible without help from many, many trans and nonbinary people

As I will continue to tell every journalist who asks about this - both producers were trans; Cleopatra, Brutus, Antonio, Ferdinand, Emilia, Juliet, and many other roles were played by trans and NB people; the chat was constantly saying trans rights...

It’s disappointing but unsurprising that the mainstream British press’ hostility to trans people includes not only printing awful things but also editing out excellent ones

What relevance did the gender status of the creators of the event have? That some people did a good thing for a good charity is the real news, surely, or was advancing awareness of trans issues part of the event's purpose too?

Daryl wrote:

pelmut wrote:A more recent example ...

What relevance did the gender status of the creators of the event have? That some people did a good thing for a good charity is the real news, surely, or was advancing awareness of trans issues part of the event's purpose too?

I think that was one of the purposes; it wasn't just a coincidence that nearly everyone involved in the event was LGBT in some way.  When that happens purely by chance*, we shall have reached the state where it is common enough not to be worth commenting on.



*Recently I happened to see a friend in a local supermarket, I knew she was a transwoman but this time it was he who was doing the shopping (for reasons I can't go into); as we were talking, another transwoman walked past us.  Perhaps that state is nearer than we think.

pelmut wrote:

Daryl wrote:

pelmut wrote:A more recent example ...

What relevance did the gender status of the creators of the event have? That some people did a good thing for a good charity is the real news, surely, or was advancing awareness of trans issues part of the event's purpose too?

I think that was one of the purposes; it wasn't just a coincidence that nearly everyone involved in the event was LGBT in some way.  When that happens purely by chance*, we shall have reached the state where it is common enough not to be worth commenting on.

Oh it's common enough for people all of a type to work together, but it isn't worth noting unless merely being of that type is part of the story. What people have in common is often what brings them together. For example, firemen putting out a calendar of shirtless firemen for a first-responder charity is worth noting that they are all firemen, but if five guys who happen to know each other get together and build a skating rink for the children in their neighbourhood, that they were all workers at the local auto plant isn't necessarily part of the story (unless their employer gave them time off to do it, say). When I read a story about folks putting on a play, I assume that an interest in theatre or in the subject of the play or in the charity they are supporting is what brings them together and I don't really care what their sexual lives or "identities" are. One could even call such an interest merely prurient.

I agree with Daryl, It is good that a bunch of people raised money for charity, I think the Times was correct in not making a point of the sexuality of the people who did it, it isn't relevant to the story, they are just a bunch of folk, no need to emphasise any perceived differences for the sake of it.

To get back to the subject of the original post, here is the final report from the tribunal-
O'Donnell v Times Newspapers
JUDGMENT OF THE EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... aring_.pdf
(Very detailed 71 page PDF document)

Big and Bashful wrote:...I think the Times was correct in not making a point of the sexuality of the people who did it,...

Except that they claimed their sexuality and gender was particularly significant in this case and The Times has previously made a point of emphasising it, very strongly, whenever there was anything negative to report.