34
Some days, I want to start a contest to see if a single reporter out there can write a story about transgender/ gender-variant people without saying something offensive. Cynical? Maybe. But seriously, articles that respect the identities of gender non-conforming people are few and far between.
As a reporter, I find this trend a little frustrating.
Lately, the T-Friendly Bathroom Initiative has received tons of press. That's great! But we hope that those who are writing about important gender-variant issues are also doing a bit of homework on the right ways to talk about these things.
Perhaps surprisingly, the GLAAD media guide is really helpful here. I've been sending it along to a lot of reporters lately. I have been wondering, in terms of gender identity, what would you add to it? Or change? How can we make this resource (the most widely used by reporters writing on gender) better?