Transgender NUS off icial is suspended over naked photos on net
BRITAIN’S first official ‘transgender students’ officer’ has been suspended over allegations that she posted explicit photographs on an online blog.
Jess Bradley, who was born male but refers to herself as a ‘ nonbinary trans woman’, was the first person to be elected to the full-time paid role by the National Union of Students (NUS).
But she was suspended from her post last week while the NUS carries out an internal investigation into claims that she published pictures of male genitalia under the headline Exhibitionizm on her personal blog.
Shocking images on the site show an individual flashing while sitting in a train carriage, in a public park and at a bus stop.
Another photograph shows male genitals being exposed in an office close to a curved wooden desk that is strikingly similar to a picture of a work desk that Ms Bradley posted on her Facebook page.
When The Mail on Sunday set out the allegations in detail to the NUS, a spokesman confirmed Ms Bradley, 29, had been suspended from her post ‘pending an investigation’, adding: ‘The matters pertaining to the investigation are confidential to allow for a fair and impartial process. NUS will continue to support Jess, full time officers, staff and volunteers during this time.’
Ms Bradley declined to comment, but has instructed libel lawyers Carter Ruck.
The law firm sought to prevent the publication of the story on privacy grounds. As part of its argument, it cited last week’s High Court ruling that the BBC had infringed on the privacy of Sir Cliff Richard by reporting a police raid on his home.
Carter Ruck argued that, based on the judgment, a report on Ms Bradley’s suspension and the NUS investigation relating to it would be an infringement of her privacy.
Legal experts have warned that the High Court ruling on Sir Cliff
‘Chilling effect on the freedom of the press’
could have serious implications for journalism in Britain.
Gavin Millar QC, who led the BBC’s legal team, said: ‘The risk is a severe chilling effect on the freedom of the press in relation to reporting police investigations.’
Media law expert David Banks, who has worked as a consultant for Government departments and other public bodies, said: ‘It is worrying if the lawyers for people in these situations are trying to use the Cliff Richard case as a means of shutting down potentially legitimate press attention into matters of legitimate public interest.
‘ The concern is that the Cliff Richard ruling is creating general rules about the rights to privacy because we anticipated it would create this chilling effect on stories that do deserve to be publicised.’
Ms Bradley was elected as the NUS transgender students’ officer at the Trans Students’ Conference in March last year and was reelected this year.
The majority of the NUS’s £24 million annual income comes from selling discount cards to students and membership fees paid by student unions.
Full-time NUS officers are typically paid about £24,000 a year.
Ms Bradley previously attracted controversy when she defended an attack by transgender activist Tara Wolf, who was born male, on a 60-year-old feminist campaigner in London’s Hyde Park last September.
Following the incident, Ms Bradley wrote online that Ms Wolf ’s actions had been an act of ‘selfdefence’ caused by ‘anti-trans activists... riling up the trans community and provoking that trans person to take a swing at someone’.
Her comments sparked criticism from feminists on Twitter who accused her of ‘inciting violence against women’.