The UK's press watchdog has been accused of undermining “free speech” over its ruling in favour of a transgender author.
The regulator came under fire after The Spectator magazine published an article which described trans writer Juno Dawson as a “man who claims to be a woman”, later prompting an investigation from the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso).
After Dawson - who was declared a woman by the gender recognition panel in 2018 - complained that this description was discriminatory, Ipso ruled that The Spectator was in breach of the Editors’ Code, ordering the magazine to publish its ruling online.
In response, Spectator editor Michael Gove - who was not actually in post when the initial article was published - said: “I am in no doubt this is an outrageous decision, offensive to the principle of free speech and chilling in its effect on free expression.”
Juno Dawson writes young adult novels and was declared a woman in 2018
PA
The original piece by Gareth Roberts in May - called “The sad truth about ‘saint’ Nicola Sturgeon” - breached the twelfth clause which addresses issues of discrimination.
Roberts’ article predominantly featured the former Scottish First Minister’s views of transgender rights and made reference to Dawson as a person who once interviewed Sturgeon.
The author - whose works include young adult novels - claimed that the article’s description was inaccurate and discriminatory, deliberately misgendering her to intentionally cause offence.
After the ruling, Gove published an ardent defence of the journalist.
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He wrote: “When Gareth Roberts wrote that Juno Dawson is a man who claims to be a woman, he was exercising his right to free speech and indeed expressing a view that many would consider a straightforward truth.
“Dawson may have a gender recognition certificate but no piece of paper, whatever it may say, can alter biological reality. Parliament may pass laws, but they cannot abolish Dawson’s Y chromosome.”
The code says: “The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual’s race, colour, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability.”
It adds that any reference to these aspects must be avoided unless “genuinely relevant” to the story.
After the ruling, Gove published an ardent defence of the journalist, vowing that his magazine would remain committed to free speech
GETTY
The Spectator said that reference to Dawson’s gender was relevant to the story due to the comments which Sturgeon made and “did not consider this to be either prejudicial or pejorative”.
Gove added that his magazine would stay committed to free speech, insisting that his team would “continue to give free thinkers and brilliant writers such as Mr Roberts a platform”.
“And we will resist any effort to pressure them into conformity with another’s morality,” he added.
Nevertheless, the Ipso ruling claimed that the language in the article was “personally belittling and demeaning toward the complainant, in a way that was both pejorative and prejudicial of the complainant due to her gender identity, and was not justified by the columnist’s right to express his views on the broader issues of a person’s sex and gender identity given that this targeted her as an individual".
The watchdog did not uphold Dawson’s accusations regarding accuracy or harassment.
