Back in 1982 a News Of The World headline read as follows…

JAMES BOND GIRL WAS BORN A BOY

During the 70s Caroline Cossey who had had a pretty successful modelling (going by the professional name of Tule) which had eventually led to her appearance in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only & yes she had been born a he.

Caroline Cossey wasn’t the first nor the last transsexual to be outed by the tabloid press, over the years transsexuals have to continuously endure having their privacy invaded by journalists so they can be portrayed as some kind of freak show in the Tabloid press & yet its curious as to why no transsexual has been called to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.

Yes the Tabloids might be reporting the truth that she was born biologically a he in regards to Caroline Cossey & other transsexuals, but what fucking business is of anybody’s to know that Caroline Cossey & any other transsexual are transsexuals? The only business the tabloid press are interested in is the awful fact that portraying transsexuals as freaks sells newspapers.

I remember another tabloid headline about a transsexual from the early 90s which read as follows…

HELICOPTER PILOT LOSES HIS JOYSTICK

This headline in itself explains why the tabloid press continuously out transsexuals; its freakish titillation which sells newspapers to ignorant masses. The tabloid press continuously out transsexuals for the reasons of freakish sensationalism sells newspapers to masses ignorant of the crap those of us with gender dysphoria have to endure.

Of course the tabloid press might put forward a public defence argument that they’ve helped raised awareness of transsexualism or helped to educate the public about transsexualism. I think its up to transsexuals whether they raise awareness about transsexualism, not the tabloid press exposing transsexuals as some kind of freaks because it sells newspapers & then have the cheek they’ve helped raise awareness. Its total & utter bollocks that the tabloid press have helped educate the masses about transsexualism, particularly as they never explain fully why some of us are transsexuals. You never hear & read in the tabloid media that transsexuals actually suffer from a debilitating medical disorder called gender dysphoria, you never hear in the tabloid media that full facts about gender dysphoria & the consequences it has on the individuals that suffer from it; what you read & hear in the tabloid media about transsexualism is that its some freakish lifestyle choice.

Its true to say that the likes of Caroline Cossey, April Ashley & Fay Presto have all courted the media to further their respective careers & there is that saying if you live by the media etc. If you court the media to further your career then you are going to come under media scrutiny; but what about those transsexuals who haven’t courted the media who get exposed by the media. Now I’m open about eing a transsexual because being physically disabled all my life I’ve got use to people seeing me as a freak, but there are many transsexuals who want the quiet life, there are many transsexuals who live don’t want to be exposed in the tabloid newspaper or want to go on some tabloid talk show. If you court media attention your bringing trouble upon yourself I get that but they’ve been plenty of transsexuals who haven’t but then find themselves exposed as ‘she was a he’ in the tabloid press.

I certainly don’t agree with how transsexuals are portrayed by the tabloid media but if you court media attention then expect to get attention & not always the kind of attention you might want. I’ve known Fay Presto for a good many years & I’m sure would protest that she didn’t start off wanting to be seen as a transsexual magician but as a female magician & the only reason she is now public about being a transsexual is that she was exposed by the media. I’ve a great deal of empathy with what Fay might say but I do believe if you court the media attention you are yourself asking for trouble. The reason I keep hammering the point that if you court the media eye then expect the scrutiny of the media eye is because media scrutiny isn’t always a bad thing.

If a celebrity is courting the media because they’re heading up some anti drug campaign & yet is snorting copious amounts of cocaine; then it’s a good thing that the tabloid press exposes that. If some conservative MP is banging on in the media about family values & yet is regularly getting a leather clad dominatrix to pleasure him with a 10inch dildo; then quite rightly the tabloid press should expose them. How repugnant or irrelevant I might find many stories to be in the tabloid media, it is vital that there is a free press in any democracy as means of challenging those in authority who attempt to bullshit us all. Of course many a transsexual will say they’re not trying to bullshit or deceive people just trying to live with being born with the wrong genitalia & this is why its extremely important that transsexuals need to educate people about gender dysphoria. Only when society changes its attitudes towards transsexuals will the tabloid media reflect that change.

Of course the whole deception thing surrounding transsexuals isn’t helped by transsexuals who appear on the Jerry Springer Show or the Jeremy Kyle Show on whatever tabloid television talk sow you want to insert. Granted no transsexual is forced to go on these tabloid talk shows nor would I stop any transsexual going on one of these shows, but I really wish some transsexuals would actually think seriously about the consequences upon the wider transgender community before they get greedy for their 15 minutes of fame. The editions of these tabloid talk shows which feature transsexuals most often revolve around transsexuals confronting their boyfriends that they use to be a guy & for their boyfriends to go ape shit berserk about it. If you have transsexuals going tabloid talk shows which are feeding of the whole anxiety men have about transsexuals supposedly deceiving them then what the fuck do us transsexuals expect!

I once joked that if people were too stupid go on the Jerry Springer Show it then I’m too stupid too be entertained by their stupidity.

Of course some will say that the media has a responsibility In how it portrays certain minorities as there are knock on affects upon those minorities. I can’t deny that the tabloid media coverage of transsexuals over the years hasn’t encouraged hatred towards transsexuals but unless the tabliod press propagates that transsexuals should be lynched then the tabloid media in my opinion haven’t overstepped the mark in regards to free speech.

Soon as you start seriously eroding freedom of speech you are heading down an ever slipperier slope to something pretty Orwellian & my fear about the Leveson Inquiry is that government will use any recommendations it makes to institute stricter regulations upon the news media & therefore eroding freedom of speech even further etc.

So why haven’t any transsexuals (to my knowledge) been called to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry? Why hasn’t any transsexual whose tried to live the quiet life but found themselves exposed in the tabloid media not been called to give evidence at the Leveson Inquiry? The quick answer is that the tabloid media hasn’t actually broken any law in exposing any transsexual.

Even if any transsexual did want to give evidence to Leveson about media practices in regards to concerns about the right to privacy, the truth is nobody is really interested about any serious concerns that transsexuals have because haven’t you read we are just freakish titillation for you to garp at & gossip about.