Equality Matters is pleased to join more than 40 organizations calling on journalists and media outlets to cover all transgender people with the dignity they deserve as human beings. In Mannings case, she issued a public statement read by her lawyer that explicitly and unambiguously stated that she should be referred to as Chelsea, accompanied by appropriate female pronouns. The Associated Press and The New York Times each rightly have announced that they will refer to Chelsea as she requested, and other media outlets should do the same. Consider these facts. According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), 53 percent of anti-LGBT homicide victims in 2012 were transgender women - most were transgender women of color. According to the report Injustice at Every Turn published by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force: Transgender people experienced unemployment at twice the rate of the general population, with rates for people of color up to four times the national unemployment rate. Ninety percent of transgender people reported experiencing harassment, mistreatment or discrimination on the job. Twenty-two percent of respondents who have interacted with police reported harassment by police, with much higher rates reported by people of color. Almost half of the respondents (46 percent) reported being uncomfortable seeking police assistance. Forty-one percent of respondents reported attempting suicide, compared to 1.6 percent of the general population. Mannings story presents an opportunity for the media to do a better job of telling the experiences of everyday transgender people who are simply trying to live their lives. The media has an opportunity - and the responsibility - to improve its reporting and accurately reflect the lives of transgender people. mediamatters.org/blog/2013/09/04/equality-matters-to-journalists-improve-coverag/195725
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 15:09:59 +0000
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