Here at Daily Kos, we do our very best to cover trans issues with a progressive lens that ultimately centers trans and nonbinary voices, especially when it comes to research, debates, and activism movements. Unfortunately, not all media outlets make it clear they’re writing from a place of progress and solidarity—the dreaded “both sides” framing comes up again and again, even though trans rights are literal human rights.
One outlet continues to face criticism for its ongoing coverage of trans issues, and in my opinion, for good reason. Which one? The good old New York Times. The Times has faced (valid) backlash again and again for publishing op-eds filled to the brim with transphobia and misinformation, and because the Times does have considerable public sway via name recognition alone, the repeated centering of anti-trans voices (even if opinion pieces) unfortunately carries a lot of weight.
But people are really joining together to make a unified stand. On Wednesday, more than 180 contributors to the Times published an open letter calling out the problems with the Times’ coverage, as covered at BuzzFeed News. Signers of the letter include cis, trans, and nonbinary folks who are activists, writers, past and former contributors to the Times, and some major celebrities. The Freelance Solidarity Project (a group of freelance writers) helped write the letter.
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Letter writers argue the Times has “platformed cisgender (non-transgender) people spreading inaccurate and harmful misinformation” about trans issues, and that it ultimately damages the paper’s credibility.
“And it is damaging to all LGBTQ people, especially our youth,” the letter continues. “Who say debates about trans equality negatively impact their mental health, which is a contributing factor to the high suicide rates for LGBTQ youth.”
The letter points out that editorial guidelines for the paper require writers to “preserve” a “professional detachment” without bias, yet treat “gender diversity with an eerily familiar mix of pseudoscience and euphemistic, charged language.” The letter also accuses the Times of publishing works that leave out relevant information.
Letter writers include a list of demands, including stopping printing anti-trans stories, actually holding meetings and dialogues with trans community leaders, and hiring at least four openly trans writers and editors within the next three months.
Letter writers also point out the paper’s less-than-ideal history when it comes to queer issues. Yes: The HIV/AIDS crisis. The letter references “hateful rhetoric” and the rise of the term “patient zero.”
“This is the same rhetoric that transphobic policymakers recently reintroduced to the American lawmaking apparatus,” by quoting an article from the Times, the letter argues.
And that’s a big part of why this discussion matters so much: Lawmakers actively reference and learn from what’s in the media. As Daily Kos continues to cover, especially in smaller committee meetings and at the state and local levels, many lawmakers are ignorant and uninformed on the nuances of trans health care, for example. They simply don’t know. So sometimes anti-trans “experts” pop up at hearings and testify about their transphobia, but lawmakers don’t actually understand the big picture.
Now, that’s no excuse for lawmakers—they should be learning and educating themselves, of course. But it’s safe to say that doesn’t always happen, and when it doesn’t, people might shrug and think, hey, if even the Times is reporting this, it’s probably right.
Folks who signed the letter include Roxane Gay, Gabrielle Union, Tommy Dorfman, Judd Apatow, Jazz Jennings, Jonathan Van Ness, Lena Dunham, Margaret Cho, Hannah Gadsby, Jamella Jamil, and many others.