The New York Times has shown anti-transgender bias by disproportionately platforming transphobic views in their publication.
Thousands of contributors and others outside of the publication have signed an open letter criticizing the Times for this bias.
The letter delineates the many anti-trans bills that have passed recently, pointing out that The New York Times has only addressed one. The Times publishes many pieces that are harmful against trans people while barely addressing anti-trans legislation concerns.
It is important to cover all news and unfortunately some news will include hate crimes and discrimination against trans people.
Transphobia is important for people to know about. Transphobic views being published, on the other hand, does more harm than good for the trans community. This is unacceptable.
In the last eight months alone,15,000 words from the front page of the Times debated medical care for transgender children, according to the open letter.
I will never understand why transgender care for children is a debate and it being on the front page makes it even more upsetting.
Gender-affirming care for trans youth is vital.
In a prospective cohort study conducted by JAMA Network Open, 104 trans and nonbinary youth aged 13 to 20 years received gender-affirming care. After a 12-month period, the care was “associated with 60% lower odds of moderate or severe depression and 73% lower odds of suicidality.”
When trans people see their healthcare being debated, they will become fearful of the transphobia that it will incite and the misinformation that will be spread about trans people.
An article titled “The Battle Over Gender Therapy” by Emily Bazelon is criticized in the letter. Bazelon refers to a trans child seeking gender-affirming care as “patient zero.” The term patient zero refers to someone who is the first to carry a disease.
Transness being compared to a disease is extremely offensive. Being trans is not contagious, nor is this identity an ailment to be fixed, as Bazelon implies by comparing it to a disease.
Another case mentioned in the letter is an article titled “When Students Change Gender Identity and Parents Don’t Know” by Katie Baker.
The open letter claims that Baker, “fails to make clear that court cases brought by parents who want schools to out their trans children are part of a legal strategy pursued by anti-trans hate groups.”
The letter explains how Baker wrongly framed the struggle of children’s rights to safely transition, leaving out the role of transphobic hate groups in these court cases.
Leaving out vital information like this is not only ignorant, but feeds into anti-trans bias.
The New York Times is a huge publication. When their articles perpetuate transphobia, it is harmful against the trans community. Not only are these articles offensive, but they also create more transphobia.
If a transphobic person were to read an anti-trans article in the paper, this would feed into the furthering of their ideologies, pushing them to extremism.
It is not only baffling that anti-trans views are being published, but also concerning that people edit these stories and allow them to be published.
We must make our allyship with trans people clearer than ever.