Mika Minio-Paluello, a biological male who identifies as transgender, has shot back at criticism he received for “breastfeeding” his child, slamming it as simply being a “right wing distraction” from real issues such as the economy.
Minio-Paluello, who works for the Trades Union Congress, one of the largest union groups in the UK, was featured as part of a report by ITV last week on the potential upcoming insolvency of Thames Water, the UK’s largest water supplier.
The trans-identified male was featured as an ordinary customer of Thames Water, and gave his opinion on how Thames Water’s struggles could compound with the current cost of living crisis in Britain to make a situation even more difficult for lower and middle-income families.
“The idea that we’re going to have even greater water bills, soaring bills, a time of prices already being hiked, and we have to pay a lot for food,” Minio-Paluello said in the clip. “That’s tough if you’re a mum like me already struggling to get the things that my kid needs,” presenting himself as a mother.
Fellow trade unionist Paul Embery tweeted the video the following day, noting that ITV “naturally… got a man to play the part” of an average mother affected by the price spikes. “Don’t forget, people – if you so much as raise an eyebrow to this, you are prosecuting a ‘culture war,'” he added.
Rosie Duffield, a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party also scolded ITV for describing Minio-Paluello as a “struggling mother.” As previously reported by The Publica, Duffield has faced abuse for criticizing the trans movement in the past.
After the clip was shared widely across social media, Minio-Paluello posted a 17 tweet-long thread defending himself from the “hate, cruelty and attempts at ridicule” he alleged were directed at him following the report.
The thread began by Minio-Paluello boasting that he had taken his child to see Sab Samuel, a drag performer known as Aida H. Dee who had previously raised money for the funeral of a convicted child sex offender.
“This wave of anti-trans hate is a distraction from the actual issue I was interviewed about – we’re being ripped off by privatised water companies, on top of profit-driven inflation and falling real wages,” Minio-Paluello argued.
The trade unionist also noted that some on Twitter had pointed out that a breast pump was seen in the shot of him washing the dishes. “It’s my housemate’s, who has a 5 month old baby,” he tweeted. “Multiple families can share a house.”
However, Minio-Paluello then argued that “trans women can breastfeed,” and that he did breastfeed his child.
“I used the standard protocol created for adoptive mothers – it works for trans or cis women,” he wrote. “Two parents breastfeeding is actually very helpful & healthy!”
The man included a photo of him “breastfeeding” his child on the bus, and added that he only stopped because he had a cancer relapse.
“Obsessing about a trans mum being interviewed on TV about water bills – that’s a classic right-wing distraction tactic, to obscure the real struggle,” he concluded.
Speaking to pro-women news outlet Reduxx in May, Jasmine Sussex, an Australian breastfeeding consultant with over 20 years of experience in maternal healthcare, said that male lactation was “biologically and psychologically dangerous” for both the child and the ‘mother.’
“Men who covet female physiology in this way are, in my opinion, either suffering from a serious delusion or sexually motivated by the idea of themselves as lactating women,” she argued.
“There is no evidence that drug-induced secretions from a male nipple are in any way equivalent to mother’s milk. It is more likely the secretions are akin to galactorrhea, which occurs when abnormal levels of prolactin are released from the pituitary gland in females who aren’t pregnant or males with disease.”
