British Newspapers Succeed in Lifting Anonymity Order Protecting Trans Father
The Daily Mail, the Sun, the Mirror, and the Daily Telegraphhave succeeded in lifting an anonymity order meant to protect the identity of a trans father currently fighting to be registered as a father or parent on his child’s birth certificate.
Initially ordered to protect the identity of both the father and child, the judge allowed it to be lifted after the newspapers argued the case was in the public interest and that the father had already appeared in a documentary detailing his pregnancy.
The judge ruled the trans father "established firstly a situation where it is public knowledge that [he] is a transgender man who has given birth", and also that "the public know that an anonymous claimant, in exactly the same, very rare, set of circumstances, has applied to be afford[ed] the status of 'father' under the law".
"There is genuine public interest in the question of law and human rights which lies at the centre of this case", the like of which "has not apparently been determined by any court either in this jurisdiction or elsewhere in the Western world".
The father, now revealed to be Freddy McConnell, said to BuzzFeed Newsthat he initially asked for anonymity to protect his child.
“Any parent can relate to that bone-deep urge to just keep your child safe,” he said. “I thought that we would be anonymous the whole way through because I thought that in these cases, anonymity remains in place to protect children involved in the proceedings. That is my primary concern at all times. And that was the basis on which I decided to pursue the action.”
McConnell stressed the difference between appearing in a documentary sharing a person story and appearing in newspapers as someone actively trying to change laws for trans rights.
“Sharing a personal story is a very different thing to being seen to be trying to change the law,” he said.
“Hostility towards trans people has never been higher in the UK. It’s scary to think of all the people who might misunderstand, or believe the coverage that seeks to misrepresent what I’m trying to do as a parent. If any of that fear or hostility that gets whipped up comes back to affect us emotionally and physically, then that’s terrifying as a parent.”
Keep up to date with the latest myGnews
