Read Your AP Stylebook, JIm Kiertzner And WXYZ-TV

When I took a trip up to Boston recently for the National Association of Black Journalists convention to discuss the coverage of Black transwomen, one of the things I implored them to do was make sure they got it right the first time because white run media consistently screws up when it coves to covering us.

And right on cue, thanks to Can We Talk 4 Real  podcast host 'Michelle Brown bringing it to my attention, here's another example of messed up media coverage courtesy of WXYZ-TV and reporter Jim Kiertzner..

In the process of reporting on a string of attacks on trans women in Detroit's Palmer Park, one fatal, Kiertzner got it horribly wrong.

Let me do your job for you and write the story properly before I put you on blast for failing to read your AP Stylebook.

(WXYZ) - Detroit Police say they are investigating three hate crimes that may be related.

All three targets were transgender men women. One was killed in Palmer Park last Friday.  In that case, the killer drove off, crashed into another car and ran away on foot, but a gun was left behind.

Another shooting on Sunday and another last week were not fatal, but the victims were also transgender men women. Police are not releasing any identities of the victims.  No one is in custody but police say they have a person of interest.

Palmer Park is located along Woodward Avenue between 6 and 7 Mile.    The area east to John R and up to 8 Mile is also a well known Detroit "red light" district.  Many in the LGBT community live here and some work the streets for sex.

For now, in this area, a killer is on the loose.

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Now, let's get to discussing the problematic August 20 video report.    Jim, a male to female transperson is a transgender woman, NOT a 'transgender man'.   You also use FEMININE pronouns when referring to that person.

And using 'lifestyle' in the context of a report on a transgender person is problematic and offensive.

But you would have known that Jim had you referred to the AP Stylebook, The National Gay And Lesbian Journalism Assn (NGLJA) guide or GLAAD's guides

The way this story was reported was not only confusing to those of us in the trans community and our allies, but has raised questions of just how committed you and your station are to respecting the humanity of transpeople and reporting accurately on our lives.

This won't be the first or last time you encounter trans people in the Detroit area.  Past time for WXYZ-TV and other Detroit media outlets to get it right in reporting on us.

TransGriot Update:  Looks like the story has been cleaned up to remove the misgendering language. 

A Modest AP Stylebook Proposal

For those of you who have taken the time to peruse the over 6500 posts here, you'll notice that many of the posts I have written over the last seven years have chronicled the many journalistic fails in terms of following the AP Stylebook guidelines for reporting on transgender people.

To remind people, here's what they say in terms of writing about trans people:

transgender-Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.

If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the individuals live publicly.

Translation: transgender woman=use female pronouns in story. Transgender male=use male pronouns in story.  

GLAAD has a media guide you can peruse in addition to the NLGJA. 

Since there seems to be confusion, a lack of reading comprehension, or outright blatant ignoring or disrespect of the trans person's humanity a la the Cleveland Plain Dealer's recent journalistic hate crime in these stories, I propose adding this line to the current AP Stylebook guideline in covering transgender stories.

When in doubt, use the name germane to the acquired characteristics or the way the persons live publicly and do not use a name inconsistent with those characteristics.

What that will do is make the stories about trans people more consistent, respectful and less confusing to readers, the trans community and our allies.  It is not necessary for a reader to know in a human interest story for example that Karen's name used to be Kendall or because Karen has yet to get her identity documents changed to seize on and add to the story 'her legal name is Kendall'.

You have already let your readers know that Karen is a transwoman by stating that fact in the headline or opening paragraph of the story.   Throwing the old name in the story is disrespectful, unnecessary (and in some cases triggering) to the transperson in question. 

The bottom line is trans people aren't going back into the closet or going away.  We are spread out all over the country and will eventually make news good, neutral or bad that you'll be in a position in your various locales to report on.

We in the trans community would prefer that those media interactions be positive ones and not adversarial. 

Our Birth Names Are Not Germane To Telling Our Stories

Was having a conversation Saturday with my little sis from another mother Jordana in which we touched on the jacked up news coverage of Cemia's death and the AP Stylebook guidelines for covering trans people.

We noted how the Cleveland Plain Dealer seems to have adopted flipping the journalistic middle finger at the Cleveland trans community in their Cemia Dove Acoff coverage and also talked about the disrespectful reporting incidents in New York with Lorena Escalera and Los Angeles with Cassidy Vickers that pissed off people in those trans communities as well.

By the way, here's what the AP Stylebook currently states about covering transpeople  . 

transgender-Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.   
If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.

Fortunately I'm seeing a lot less instances of media outlets putting a trans persons chosen or new name in quotation marks.  But with the way some of the media outlets have been backsliding on or straight up ignoring the AP Stylebook guidelines lately, I won't be surprised to see that odious news article tendency make a comeback.

What I and a lot of transpeople are also concerned about is seeing in far too many stories about us lately adding the line 'born as ___________'  or 'legal name is __________'.

I'm proposing that since many transpeople find this problematic, another line be added to the AP Stylebook guidelines or the NGLJA and GLAAD stylebooks that state that we find this problematic and they not do it.

You already know by stating the person is transgender is sufficient enough for the average reader of your story to know that the person you're writing about wasn't born with the gender characteristics they currently have.  So why add the birth name of that person unless you're deliberately trying to be disrespectful or salacious?   

I also can't stress this point enough that transpeople consider you using the name that matches their current gender presentation as a sign of respect of their lives.   

I've had a longstanding policy in any interview I do that my birth name is none of your business.   I've noticed that other trans people are also doing the same thing these days.  When Kylan Wentzel declined to give her old name to a reporter, I noted the tone of the article tuned pissy when she did so.  

Reporters, don't get mad when we insist in only giving you the names that correspond with the way we live our lives now.  I'd advise my trans younglings who are fortunate enough to get the opportunity to be interviewed from this day forward to decline to answer that question.  Far too often what I've observed is that your old name gets used to attack and misgender you. 

If we can respect Cher, Sir Elton John, Tina Turner and Sting and a long list of celebrities and politicians by not pointing out their birth names are Cherilyn Sarkisian, Reginald Dwight, Anna Mae Bullock and Gordon Sumner, why do we insist that somehow it's different for trans people and we MUST know their old names they no longer identify with?  Are we not worthy of the same media respect that a cis person gets? 

My birth name or the birth name of any trans person you're writing about in many instances is not only not germane to the story, it's a derailing distraction. 

So if you're concerned about writing a story respectful to our community and the trans person in question, how about simply focusing on our lives in their current manifestation?