How the Media Excludes Trans Voices

Buona sera, Meteor readers,

It is the official start of Easter weekend, with today being Holy Thursday for Christians and Thirsty Thursday for everyone else. Either way, wine is encouraged. No matter what the next few days bring you, we hope this weekend is a great one.

In today’s newsletter, we take a look at how the media continues to fail trans people. Plus, a little bit of good news and our weekend reading list.

Xoxo,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

Panic! at the Times Disco: A new report from Media Matters and GLAAD has found that over the last year, The New York Times “excluded the perspectives of trans people”—referencing a failure to quote them—“from two-thirds of its stories about anti-trans legislation.” The study comes more than a year after Times leadership received two separate letters from staff members and LGBTQ advocates and organizations charging the paper with contributing to “a deadly anti-LGBTQ culture war.”

According to the report, 66% of the articles covering the aggressive anti-LGBTQ legislation sweeping the nation did not quote a single trans or gender non-conforming person, but 18% of those same articles did cite misinformation from anti-trans activists “without adequate fact-checking or additional context.” Media Matters cited as an example this piece on North Dakota banning trans girls from girls’ sports teams, which didn’t ask any of the banned players how they’d been affected.

The issue, of course, isn’t just about the Times’s journalism; it’s about the too-common framing of trans people as politically controversial entities rather than as members of communities everywhere. And those community members are under attack like never before: Last year, according to the ACLU, 510 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced by legislators in nearly every state. (The only states which did not see bills introduced were New York, Delaware, and Illinois.) Of those bills, 84 were signed into law, doing everything from restricting bathroom use to eliminating gender-affirming care. Against that backdrop, reporting on anti-trans laws while omitting the people and families who know first-hand what they do is a dangerous act of dehumanization.

You can read the full report here.

AND:

• In other news, a positive LGBTQ+ bill: Washington state has passed a new law  requiring public schools to teach “histories, contributions, and perspectives of marginalized groups, including people of color, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ people.” The updated curriculum goes into effect this October.

• Attempts to airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza are continuing to prove fatal for Gazans. Initially, aid packages hurtled to the ground when their parachutes failed to deploy properly; this week, 12 people drowned trying to retrieve aid packages that had fallen into the Mediterranean Sea.

AID PACKAGES FALLING FROM THE SKY IN SOUTHERN GAZA. (IMAGE VIA GETTY)

• Marilyn Lands, a Democrat running on a pro-abortion platform, flipped an Alabama House seat in a special election on Tuesday. “Voters want something different,” said Lands, “and I think they are tired of women’s freedoms and reproductive health care not being addressed.” Reminder: Abortion wins elections!

• Public health officials in Puerto Rico have declared a state of emergency after an abnormal rise in cases of dengue fever—a virus carried by mosquitoes. Meanwhile, the island is still suffering from the aftermath of the last two hurricanes and a crumbling healthcare infrastructure, both of which are exacerbating the situation. Consider contributing to grassroots recovery efforts by donating to a local organization here.

• Apparently, we have all lived long enough to witness the fall of influencer culture! We are now in the era of the De-influencer—who appears to be an influencer who wants to convince you not to buy the things other influencers are selling. Is this the future George Orwell warned us about?

• Congratulations to basketball phenom Caitlin Clark, who earlier today was selected for the U.S. women’s basketball training camp roster. But the competition to make the starting line-up is tough: Clark will be in the company of legends like Brittany Griner, Kelsey Plum, Sabrina Ionescu, and the undisputed 🐐 Diana Taurasi.

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WEEKEND READING 📚

On the road: In an effort to woo environmentally conscious voters, both Republicans and Democrats are talking more about electric cars. But climate journalist Emily Atkin says we’re in for a wild ride of EV misinformation. (Heated)

On education: Who the heck is Baby Olivia, and why is she in our classrooms? (The 19th)

On “self-creation”: Photographer Rahim Fortune has beautifully executed the daunting task of capturing the lives, landscape, and character of the rural south. (The Atlantic)

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