GLAAD blasts NY Times over ‘shameful’ response to criticism of trans coverage as paper says it’s ‘proud’ of it
The New York Times on Wednesday defended how it covers transgender people after two letters called out its “irresponsible and biased” reporting on the issue — but critics say the paper’s response “is as ill-informed as its coverage of trans people.”
The Times received two letters decrying the paper’s transgender coverage — one signed by LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD and more than 100 other organizations and allies, and another signed by more than 180 NYT contributors. In response, the Pulitzer-winning paper said it “welcomed” the feedback, but stood behind its reporting.
“We understand how GLAAD sees our coverage. But at the same time, we recognize that GLAAD’s advocacy mission and The Times’s journalistic mission are different,” Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander told the Daily News in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“As a news organization, we pursue independent reporting on transgender issues that include profiling groundbreakers in the movement, challenges and prejudice faced by the community, and how society is grappling with debates about care,” he said, adding that its reporting offers readers tools to better understand issues such as gender-affirming care for trans youth.
“Our journalism strives to explore, interrogate and reflect the experiences, ideas and debates in society, Stadtlander said. “Our reporting did exactly that and we’re proud of it.”
But according to the letter headed by GLAAD, several pieces, often published in the paper’s opinion pages, give a platform to “extremist anti-LGBTQ activists” who elevate an anti-trans narrative that goes against medical consensus.
The letter penned by Times contributors noted that the work of journalists who “cover trans issues fairly” is eclipsed by pieces putting into question “the propriety of medical care for trans children.”
GLAAD responded to the newspaper’s reaction later on Wednesday — even though the organization wasn’t directly contacted by the paper and first saw its response in the media.
“It is shameful that the Times’ response blatantly ignores today’s letter from 180+ of their own contributors and does not address the 120+ organizations and leaders who signed the letter alongside GLAAD,” Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD president and CEO, said in a statement shared with The News.
“The Times is not only standing behind coverage that hundreds of leaders in journalism, media, and LGBTQ advocacy are speaking out against, but boasting that they are proud of it,” she added, accusing the paper of trying to “dismiss the very real concerns over fair and accurate journalism.”
Early on Thursday, the paper published an opinion piece titled “In Defense of J.K. Rowling”, the British author known for the “Harry Potter” books and for her outspoken views on transgender women — widely seen as unapologetically transphobic.
One day after the Times received the two letters criticizing its trans coverage, “another transphobic column by one of their most consistently anti-transgender opinion writers is published to defend one of the most famous transphobic writers in the world,” Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign said in a statement Thursday morning.
“The circumstances are so outlandish that I almost can’t believe it,” she said.
