The New York Times is taking heat for allegedly publishing articles with an anti-trans bias.
GLAAD, an LGTBQ advocacy organization, published a lengthy letter on Wednesday criticizing The Times for its coverage of transgender issues.
“The New York Times has long been the standard for excellence in journalism,” the letter opened. “But for more than a year, the New York Times has stood for something else: irresponsible, biased coverage of transgender people.”
The letter states the paper has “repeatedly platformed cisgender (non-transgender) people spreading inaccurate and harmful misinformation about transgender people and issues.”
Not only does GLAAD argue The Times’ coverage of transgender issues is damaging to its reputation. The letter suggests it could be damaging to “all LGBTQ people, especially our youth 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 went on, “It is appalling that the Times would dedicate so many resources and pages to platforming the voices of extremist anti-LGBTQ activists who have built their careers on denigrating and dehumanizing LGBTQ people, especially transgender people.”
GLAAD acknowledged The Times has published “few fair stories, mostly human interest stories,” but, “Those articles are not getting front-page placement or sent to app users via push notification like the irresponsible pieces are.”
The organization also placed a digital sign outside The Times’ office accusing it of an anti-transgender bias.
We’ve had enough. We’ve joined over 100 organizations and leaders to demand that @nytimes stop printing inaccurate and harmful misinformation about transgender people and issues. Today we are outside of the Times building to send a clear message. https://t.co/IkQocpsG5q pic.twitter.com/bBVnFoqOjD
— GLAAD (@glaad) February 15, 2023
GLAAD then shared some of its specific criticism of the paper’s coverage. It claimed The Times’ science section “decided to spend more than a year undermining support for transgender youth by writing ‘just asking questions’ stories about medically approved best practices for gender-affirming healthcare.”
Additionally, it pointed out the opinion section gave “cisgender heterosexual Pamela Paul space for her unfounded thoughts about how LGBTQ people should describe themselves.”
And it noted The Times hired David French, “an attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center designated an anti-LGBTQ hate group that actively spreads misinformation about LGBTQ people and pushes baseless legislation and lawsuits to legalize discrimination.”
Well, GLAAD should probably do some homework about French. Yes, he is a conservative writer. And yes, he stated in an article last year, “I don’t agree that trans men are ‘men’ or that trans women are ‘women.'”
But he also noted, “I strive to treat every person I encounter with dignity and respect.” And he has certainly not been a cheerleader on the conservative front line of the culture wars regarding trans issues — which has drawn criticism from other conservatives.
Finally, GLAAD called on The Times to “stop presenting anti-trans extremists as average Americans without an agenda” and “stop questioning trans people’s right to exist and access medical care.”
It also suggested the paper should hold a meeting with members of the transgender community. Additionally, GLAAD called for the paper to hire two trans people for its opinion section and two trans people for its news department within three months.
The letter stated The Times was the only “mainstream media” outlet it has had to discuss “problematic coverage with.”
“It is appalling to see how the news and opinion pages are now full of misguided, inaccurate, and disingenuous ‘both sides’ fearmongering and bad faith ‘just asking questions’ coverage,” the letter concluded. “We won’t stand for the Times platforming lies, bias, fringe theories, and dangerous inaccuracies.”
This is quite the doozy of a letter. It essentially argues unless the paper covers trans issues exactly and as prominently as GLAAD wants, it could be damaging to young people’s mental health and contribute to them committing suicide.
When you try to eliminate dissent or other voices, you lose out on potentially life-saving information or ideas. Just stating that the “science is settled” is not a great answer. How many times have we heard that during COVID only to have health officials change their guidance?
Trying to bully publications into only publishing what you want, ignoring legitimate questions about an issue, and marginalizing dissenters because you do not like what they say may make you feel good. However, it could also cost you in the long run some concerns turn out to be valid but were disregarded because they hurt your feelings.
