The Press Council has ruled against upholding complaints about a Dominion Post column by Rosemary McLeod entitled “Why I feel for the kids of ego trippers,” which attacked transgender parents. Megan Easterbrook-Smith and Magdalen Harris complained that the February column was transphobic and encouraged hatred towards, and discrimination against transgender people. They believed that the use of “he/she” in relation to the transgender father deliberately ignored the father’s gender and was discriminatory. They also felt that the article mocked transgender people. The Dominion Post’s editor replied that the column was clearly identified as an opinion piece. She noted that there was no claim that Ms McLeod had made any factual error. Rather the disagreement was with her view of those facts. “The columnist did not denigrate transgendered people in general. The column commented on one transgendered person only who identified as a male giving birth, but also included other examples of different lifestyles,” the summary of the Dominion Post’s submission reads. “It is clear to anyone reading the article that it is an opinion piece and the column clearly identifies that it is the opinion of the columnist expressed in an article under her name,” the Press Council ruling reads. “The article was about the possible future impact on the children of people who lead lives that the columnist saw as different and used their lifestyle to gain publicity. “The newspaper did give those with opposing views the right of reply and published them.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 3rd July 2012 - 1:54pm