The UK Sun upset readers when it published a front page story on a transgender couple who got married. Why? Because the headline was “Tran and wife: Jake who used to be a woman weds Hannah who was a man.”
The UK press regulator IPSO told iMediaEthics the day the article was published, it received seven complaints about the article, mostly under clause 12, which addresses discrimination.
The couple, Jake Graf and Hannah Winterbourne, tweeted their disappointment. Graf wrote, “Following such a lovely, positive article from @Emskibeat in today’s @TheSun it’s real shame that it’s been cheapened by such a sensationalised and misleading headline. @hannahw253 was never a man, as I was never a woman. #trans #fact”
Likewise, Winterbourne wrote, “A shame that our beautiful day and a positive article by @Emskibeat has been marred by fairly offensive headlines. I have always been a woman and Jake has always been a man.” iMediaEthics has written to both Winterbourne and Graf, and to the Sun for a response to the criticism.