Assured by whom? I think of the Toronto Sun as a right-leaning conservative rag. I wouldn’t have considered them a credible source. But, given I don’t live in Ontario, I don’t speak from personal experience with the paper. There is still no mention of this story in the mainstream Canadian media. Hence, given how outrageous the story is, I remain dubious of its veracity. Or maybe there is much more to the story (e.g., maybe it was a joke or something).
[ninja’d by Johnny_Bravo]
I was assured by…
Now, way back in 1988, the Washington Post had some not-so-kind things to say about the Toronto Sun.
The Sun’s daily columns are filled with a hash of offbeat human-interest stories, entertainment news and gossip, lots of sports and some rather tame appeals to prurient interests.
That was over 30 years ago, but looking at it more recently, it doesn’t seem to have changed much.
My first impression was that it was a right-leaning tabloid rather than a reputable newspaper. But I’m an American who has zero experience with it, so I’m not putting myself out there as anything close to an expert.
I haven’t found anything better covering this story, and I really looked hard. Since @RickJay is much closer, and has said that he is seeing local coverage, maybe he sees things we haven’t. Maybe those news sources have more context.
There are some interesting things to discuss here, regarding professional dress, transphobia, secondary sex characteristics, and the like–but at this point the story looks like a bizarre hoax, and until we see clear evidence otherwise, I’m loath to feed the trolls.
(I went to the school’s directory. It’s broken.)
Margo Shuttleworth seems to be a real person and associated with the Halton District School Board.
She’s the one quoted in articles, and if they are making it up and she’s not actually saying these things, then that’s pretty serious.
I don’t think it’s 100% a hoax, but it’s possible that there is important context missing, or that something is being presented in a misleading way, considering the sources for these articles.
Right…I read the post by Euphonious_Polemic and then forgot about it when I posted a few minutes ago. Sorry about that. I think Euphonious_Polemic is a bit more generous than I am about the Toronto Sun. I always thought of it as exactly what you called it–a right-wing tabloid. Media Bias Fact Check scored the paper as “mostly factual” and states: “Overall, we rate the Toronto Sun, Right Biased based on story selection and editorial positions that favor the right and Mixed for factual reporting due to a lack of sourcing and scientific positions that do not align with the scientific consensus.” So, Euphonious_Polemic is correct in that they do use actual reporters and report real news. But they aren’t going to let a lack of facts interfere with publishing a juicy story that will be popular with the right. I remain very dubious about this story as presented…
My suspicion is that there is in fact a trans woman teaching a shop class in the district, but that the photos of her that are causing all of the fuss are all fabricated. That seems like the simplest explanation consistent with all of the known facts: Without the ludicrous exaggeration in the pictures, there’s no story, hence why reputable media aren’t covering it, but the disreputable media is still enough that the real individual is likely to be subject to threats, hence why the school board is preparing to address threats.
Why are these right-wing trolls and TERFs the only sources for these photos and videos? Your speculation seems to be a good way to explain it.
Maybe they’re prosthetic.
If an employee of our showed up to work dressed like like her, they’d be sent home immediately. Does our dress code specifically single out comically large prosthetic breasts with the nipples poking through it? No. (Though it does bar shorts.) But just because something isn’t specifically written down in a policy doesn’t mean an employer can’t take any corrective actions. Her attire is unprofessional and entirely inappropriate for her work environment even before we take into considering any potential safety issues.
I would bet several quatloos that this is what’s happening.
I’d characterize it as “reputable, but just barely.” It does subscribe to reputable wire services, generally runs those items verbatim, and more often than not, with the headlines they’re supplied with (“Biden to speak to Pennsylvania steelworkers,” from, say, the AP wire, might be an example). It has a great (and large) sports section, covers local and other entertainment well, and has all the other features you’d expect a daily paper to have: comics, horoscopes, crossword puzzle, Dear Abby (or whoever it is now), and so on.
Where it goes off the rails, is best summed up be a friend of mine who characterized it as “Cops!” Tits! Sports!" Local crime is emphasized, and police involvement to end it is good, especially if some kind of police violence ended it. The more lurid the headline that can be created out of any event, the better (e.g. “Bloody Night on Queen Street!” might describe a hit-and-run where the hit pedestrian might need a bit of medical attention). Editorials and op-ed columnists do tend to skew to the right, and a scan of Letters to the Editor indicate that Sun readers also hold rightist views.
And “Tits!” because for years, it ran a photo of a scantily-clad Sunshine Girl on page 3.
I get the feeling that because this matter is local, the Sun is being as lurid and as outraged as possible, in its reporting and in its opinions. Still, I’d suggest that because of its wire subscriptions, sports and entertainment coverage, and its features, the Sun is just a little bit shy of being described as disreputable. But only a little bit.
Actually, since I like to be REALLY sure about stuff like this, immediately after I made my previous post, I reached out to a number of friends who work in the HDSB. I’ve gotten one reply so far, claiming they know this to be a true story.
I’ll keep digging, but it appears so far to be genuine.
ETA: I’ve also managed to confirm the HDSB’s statement is legitimate; in addition to being quoted in the Sun, which is conservative but wouldn’t just make up a press release, it’s been quoted in BlogTO, a local online news outlet that runs legitimate news.
Allegedly the school has also send an email to parents of kids at that school but I have been unable to directly confirm this.
Thank you, you are awesome.
Genuine as in “it happened exactly as reported” or genuine as in “this person really exists but…”?
Maybe it identifies Non-Binary?
…that this ridiculous thread has already got over half the amount of posts as this thread here:
in just a day shows how effectively that “outrage sells”.
This is where the outrage really should lie.
https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2022/09/19/youngkin-transgender-policy-virginia
The teacher exists, recently transitioned, and the pictures are genuine. Which are really the only claims we have been presented with, anyway. Well, and the specific high school.
I should have been more clear. Her employer might have cared, but no one not directly involved would care. It wouldn’t be in the news.
OK, here’s my guess (similar to what others have already said): the teacher in question feels slighted in some way by the school and/or community, and decided to wear a ridiculous outfit to work as a protest. I suspect she recognises it is inappropriate for a work or school environment (which I think nearly all of us here agree with). She may not have fully thought through that transphobic media coverage would result.
It’s a weird story. Cis women who grow breasts like that usually seek surgical aid in reducing the size due to backaches and other problems they cause. Trans women usually choose breasts on the small side, as that’s so much more convenient, and works fine to signal, “this is a woman”. The claim is that this person chose to have breasts like that. So just on the surface, we know something is missing.
Other than the long, loose hair i see nothing unsafe about her outfit. And the hair would be totally unremarkable outside a shop. I suspect she ties it up in the shop. And i doubt her outfit violates any dress code. Although women routinely wear clothes that hide their nipples, I’ve never seen that in a written dress code.
So yeah, whatever is going on (and I’m pretty sure we don’t know what is going on) this article exists for the purpose of public shaming, of pointing at a person and saying “ooh, gross”. That’s pretty sad.