Catholic journalist to be questioned by police after misgendering a trans woman

A devout Catholic journalist and commentator has claimed Surrey Police intends to investigate her after she called a young, transgender woman by the wrong pronouns.

Caroline Farrow, who has taken part in broadcasts such as Question Time and BBC News in the past, appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain back in September 2018 to talk about whether Girl Guides’ leaders should be able to tell parents whether any members identify as transgender. The broadcast aired in the wake of two leaders, who challenged the code, being expelled.

Read more: Piers Morgan describes gender fluidity as a ‘farce’

Farrow stated: “It’s not about saying, ‘all trans people are rapists’ but actually, they’ve still got a male body. They may or not be on puberty blockers, which chemically castrates children so you may have someone with a fully functioning male body.

“You put girls and boys in the same sleeping quarters together… one sex can impregnate the other.”

Susie Green, an activist and founder of trans charity Mermaids, challenged Farrow: “But what you’re doing is picking on a marginalised group of children who have already been subjected to abuse within their own environments. You’re othering those children; you’re pointing out their differences.

“Trans girls are far more at risk of abuse, prejudice and we know that from the statistics surrounding self-harm and suicide.”

After their joint appearance on the show, Green claims that Farrow sent her trans daughter “very deliberately malicious and nasty messages,” which led her to report her to the police – not the fact that Farrow ‘simply’ misgendered her child. Farrow took to Twitter on 20 March to detail how Surrey Police recently contacted her saying it wants her to take part in a taped interview.

“I can’t sleep I am so furious,” she wrote on social media. “I don’t even remember said tweets. I probably said ‘he’ or ‘son’ or something. All I have been told is that following an appearance on Good Morning Britain I made some tweets misgendering Susie Green’s child.”

She went on to say that she has “done nothing wrong,” couldn’t “give a flying toss” and yet would “happily do the jail time for [her] right to say that people cannot change sex.

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That same morning, former Celebrity Big Brother contestant India Willoughby discussed whether misgendering someone should be considered a hate crime on the aforementioned breakfast show.

“Gender is a protected characteristic just as much as race, religion or sexuality, Willoughby explained. “If somebody took a swipe at any of those, there would be a similar reaction. To a transgender person, their identity is what they’ve fought for.”