‘Woman’ missing in Southampton

‘38’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting here …

but yeah, of course I hope this missing man is found safe and well

This individual is clearly a man. Absolutely nobody will mistake this individual for a woman. Surely accurate information is more important than whether someone is mis-gendered at this point.

Interesting though that @TransParentlyAnnoyed had no doubt that Samantha is a transwoman

Very good point.

Which seems a bit transphobic of that poster. I mean, the appeal was for a missing woman. What gave TPA the idea that the person was actually a TIM not a woman? Hopefully not because they were using gender conforming standards to judge someone’s appearance?

Is it really necessary to comment on this person not necessarily looking their age? Im sure we all have times where we look older than we actually are

I know trans people aren't liked here, but the age comments are just dickish and completely not needed.

Have they found her yet? I hope she's OK, women really aren't safe to walk the streets these days its horrible.

This isn’t a woman do might be a bit safer…..

It does matter, because it shows this police force prioritises men's feelings and pronouns over reality and clear communication.
Their decision to refer to what is clearly a man as a woman suggests they probably do the same when it comes to reporting the sex of victims and perpetrators of crime. And that's why we have supposedly seen a rise in 'women' rapists.

Obviously inaccurate language affects trust in the police and likelihood to follow police instructions.

To paraphrase Sal Grover, if you lie about obvious things, I'm not going to trust anything you say..

It affects whether or not people believe the police are doing their job and will act in everyone's best interests. And therefore whether people will cooperate with police or even engage with them at all.

It's clearly not in the interests of any missing person for the police to make things confusing about who they are and who 'members of the public' should be looking for.

If they're 'asking for help' gaslighting the people who might or might not help doesn't seem the best approach.

He's still not found. Latest police appeal has left off the person's sex, blocked comments (again) and added a new, probably more accurate, photo.

This is crazy. No one looking for a woman is going to take a glance at this person. Just call him what he is - either a man or a transwoman.

In the last Hampshire & Isle of Wight police appeal, two hours ago, it doesn't say woman or she.

Police have also released an image of a woman who was sitting next to Samantha on the train

Does no one see the problem here?
The woman sitting next to the missing person on the train will probably have thought she was sitting next to a bloke.
So she may not realise the police want to speak to her.

Well quite a few of you post really horrible things. Like clockwork.

Samantha is missing, and people have come here with faux concern that calling her a woman will hinder the search (there’s a photo - that’s who people will look out for). But it just an opportunity do some more transphobia.

Express concern = transphobic
Don't express concern = transphobic

Photos aren't working so well on the radio news bulletins

You’re an absolute ghoul.

Are you using the fact that someone is missing as an excuse to be a drama llama.

I’m going to assume the police know more than you about the safest and most appropriate way forward in this specific case. You have absolutely no idea if seeing ‘trans identifying man’ plastered all over the press would have a detrimental effect to Samantha’s mental health or ANYTHING.

All of us can see that she is perfectly recognisable from the range of photos provided.

Assuming the police know what they’re doing may be your first mistake.

Samantha is a transwoman. That is very obvious. So obvious that one of the resident TRAs didn’t hesitate to identify Samantha as trans, despite the fact the police hadn’t mentioned it. The police could have said ‘missing person’. Saying woman and accompanying the notice with a picture of an obvious male person unleashed some quite unpleasant transphobia on other social media platforms - actual transphobia- and may have been avoided had they framed it differently.

In addition, the latest photos suggest Samantha was no longer presenting in a particularly ‘female’ way. As @GreyskySexRealistsky points out, it is highly likely that the person sitting next to Samantha on the train would think they were just sat next to a man. Why would they consider the search for a missing woman relevant to them?

And it's not just the person sitting next to them. It could be anyone anywhere on that train or platform. They might think "hmm I was on that train and I didn't see a tall woman". So the opportunity to gain valuable sightings is missed.

I don't get why people can't see this.