COLUMN: 200,000 Say Sack Richard Littlejohn

<p>London, 27 March, I’m pleased to say I was able to join a number of people to officially deliver a Sum of Us petition, which currently stands at over 200,000 signatures and a similar petition from website Change.org, which gathered 40k signatures, to the Daily Mail’s offices following the tragic death of transgender schoolteacher Lucy Meadows.</p> <p>by The Gay Prime Minister | 28th March 2013 </p> <p></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="http://www.thegayuk.com/communities/8/004/009/928/388/images/4589440008.png" width="460" height="351" alt="" title=""/></p> <p></p> <p>The petition reads; ‘The Daily Mail needs to ensure that this never happens again – by not only yanking Littlejohn’s column and apologizing for the paper’s decision to run the hateful opinion piece, but also instituting an editorial review policy that prevents discriminatory writing from ending up in the paper again.’</p> <p></p> <p>Many of the people who attended to show their support had rearranged their lunch hours to allow them the time to come. The petitions were delivered at 1pm as agreed by the newspaper in several boxes. </p> <p></p> <p>Richard Littlejohn and the Daily Mail have become focal points of outrage since the death of Lucy, after Mr Littlejohn wrote an opinion piece stating ‘He's not only in the wrong body... he's in the wrong job’ </p> <p></p> <p>This tragic story has been reported across the media and does ask the question; Do newspapers and journalists believe they are above responsibility for their actions? With extensive coverage in the news about restricting the freedom of the press following the hacking scandal, how can there not be reform when it has potentially attributed to the death of a member of the general public trying to live their life and harming no-one. </p> <p></p> <p>Everyone has the right to say what they think, but publications hold ultimate responsibility for what they print and should not support and promote this sort of hate. This type of journalism tarnishes their fellow journalists with the same brush, which in many cases is not true. The clear public support for Lucy will hopefully prevent publications from allowing this type of journalism from reoccurring again. However, I fear that without official action, this will not be the last time we’ll witness ‘gutter press’ reporting like this. </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>Related Stories:</p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://www.thegayuk.com/#/magazine/4574334751/NEWS-Transgendered-Teacher-Lucy-Meadows-Found-Dead/5220230">NEWS: Transgendered Teacher Lucy Meadows Found Dead</a></p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://www.thegayuk.com/#/magazine/4574334751/Lucy-Meadows-Vigil-Outside-Daily-Mail-Attracts-Large-Crowd/5260317">NEWS: Lucy Meadows: Vigil Outside Daily Mail Attracts Large Crowd</a></p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://www.thegayuk.com/#/magazine/4574334751/NEWS-Over-100-000-People-Sign-Petitions-Calling-For-The-Resignation-Of-Richard-Littlejohn/5246315">NEWS: Over 100,000 People Sign Petitions Calling For The Resignation Of Richard Littlejohn</a></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p> </p>