The Beaumont Society screws up. Big Time.

I missed this, not being a reader of the British rag The Daily Mail. Apparently, last year, some transman in Britain gave birth to a baby. So, sensing a juicy bit of gossip - for it is that (no denying it, it is) - the reporters jumped onto the whole charade. And, for some reason, asked The Beaumont Society, a British transgender/crossdresser group about the story. Which is where it gets really stupid. Because the idiots at that organization confirmed what they knew of the story and chap.

Privacy? What privacy?

The reporters had a story; they didn't need the Beaumont Society's tuppence worth of idiocy to "confirm" anything. What they did was hope for something extra - and the Beaumont Society did what they could to provide it. (I think the newspaper's callout, about how much GRS costs British taxpayers a trifle misleading. Especially as the actual numbers are, as far as I can tell, unknown.)

As you might gather, the chap at the center of all this attention is a tad annoyed. I can't blame him! While there's the whole "juicy gossip" thing going on, he's also entitled to a bit of privacy.

There's a couple of interesting takes on the story; a rather pointed one from "Eclectic Chicken" and another from Jane Fae. I'm sure there are more, but those are the two I know of (I know of the Eclectic Chicken because I read Jane Fae's commentary about the relevant post).

All together, it's a rather silly story. Someone gave birth. He identifies as a man. It's happened, as the Daily Mail points out, a few times already. I doubt it'll ever be commonplace, but it should, in time, get to be "not worth commenting on". In the meantime, it's not public policy, but it is a story of public interest. And yes, the Beaumont Society really screwed up on that one. (Yes, yes. I know they've apologized. It's all-but meaningless; they shouldn't have revealed what they knew in the first place. If they were in the US, they'd be consulting lawyers, discussing how to avoid massive penalties.) Altogether, the story poses an interesting question about gender: is the chap the Dad, or the Mom? Can he be both? (Apparently so.) Is this going to send officialdom into a tizzy? Apparently they handled it. Will it lead to calls for the sterilization of transgender and transsexual folk? Why, yes. It did. From a transsexual woman. Is it anyone's business? Nope.

Congratulations to the lucky parents. :-)

Carolyn Ann