March 31, 2013
Frenzy Continues After Media-Hounded Transgender Teacher Commits Suicide
Chris Sosa READ TIME: 1 MIN.
A vigil was scheduled to take place March 25 outside the offices The Daily Mail in London after many blamed the British tabloid for the suicide of a transgender elementary school teacher.
Lucy Meadows, a primary school teacher at St. Mary Magdalen's Church of England, was found dead in her home on March 19, The Guardian reported. The paper suggested that the transgender teacher killed herself after being harassed by members of the press, The Daily Mail in particular.
The Daily Mail gave major prominence to Meadows' sex-change operation story, highlighting the controversy that followed when the teacher, Nathan Upton, returned from Christmas break as Lucy Meadows.
An opinion piece by Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn said Meadows' transition would have a "devastating effect" on her students.
"Why should they be forced to deal with the news that a male teacher they have always known as Mr Upton will henceforth be a woman called Miss Meadows?" part of the column (taken off the website) reads.
Since Meadows' suicide, an online petition has been started to pressure The Daily Mail to fire Littlejohn and apologize for the damage they've allegedly caused.
"No one deserves to have their lives turned upside down for their gender identity being thrown into the national spotlight," part of the petition reads.
The petition has 31,887 supporters as of publication.
