Important updates to this at the end of the post.
I’m pretty used to the Daily Malice running sensationalist stories about trans people. Spreading hatred about minority groups is one of the main ways that they market their paper. But it is by no means only tabloid newspapers that are to blame. Today The Independent ran an article about trans model and beauty queen, Jackie Green. It purports to be an interview with Jackie’s mum. There’s a lot in the article that needs to be challenged (and people are starting to do so in the comments), but for now I’ll confine myself of a couple of things. Firstly the article pulls the usual dirty trick of referring to Jackie as male as often as it possibly can so as to reinforce the idea that she can never be anything else. And secondly, note the maximum shock value opening sentence: “When Jack Green was six years old, he asked ‘Mummy, when can I have my willy chopped off?” That’s completely made up. I know that because I’ve just read a very angry comment by Susie Green on the Trans Media Watch Facebook page.
To do this sort of thing at any time is disgraceful. To run a story that is pretty much designed to attract transphobic trolls on Transgender Day of Remembrance is beyond belief. I have no idea who Charlotte Philby is, but I hope I never have the misfortune to meet someone so hateful and insensitive.
Update: Just to show what can be done, The Telegraph has a wonderful article about Janet Mock. Also The Guardian gives Roz Kaveney space to tackle one of the worst sources of transphobia in the world. The Malice, of course, has an outright attack article, which I won’t link to.
Update 2: And lo, representation was made. And the representation appears to have got the ear of someone high up at The Independent. For while I was out the article has been substantially re-written, removing the invented quotes and deliberate misgendering. Here’s the fixed version.
Darn, I looked too late and missed an educational example of What Not To Do.
The article as it stands now does still do something I’m curious about. The subject of the article is “he” and “Jack” in the first paragraph, and then “she” and “Jackie” when talking about the transition and afterward. Is this appropriate, to show that the person in question was generally regarded as male at age 4, or is it inappropriate because she clearly did not feel comfortable in that identity even then?
Better yet, is there a style guide out there that addresses this sort of thing? I’ve found some online material explaining how to avoid dramatic and horrifying mistakes, but nothing to address trickier stuff like this.
(Reason behind question: I’m trying to expand an article on a fan wiki about a trans woman who had significant professional achievements pre-transition, including her work on the show the wiki is about. Her obituaries all went with male pronouns to describe her pre-transition life and female ones for post-transition, but since this is coming from the much-reviled British media, I’d really like to find a better source that says whether this is okay or not rather than copying their practice blindly.)
Hi Petréa, many thanks for asking. This is kind of complicated.
The standard rule of thumb when referring to trans people is to use the pronouns they ask you to use. With someone like myself or Jackie that will generally mean sticking with the pronoun for the preferred gender at all times. After all, I now have a birth certificate saying I was born female. I’m pretty sure that Jackie does too. However, there will be people who ask you to respect that part of their lives that they spent in a different gender. And indeed people who are gender-fluid.
In this particular case the situation is complicated by the fact that the subject is deceased and cannot speak for herself. I have no idea if she left any writing that might have given hints as to her preferences, but you could look for it.
My guess is that you’ll need some fairly firm evidence before using female pronouns for the subject’s pre-transition life. I can see transphobic fanboys getting their knickers in a twist over any changes.
As to style guides, GLAAD has a good one. Their trans section is here. You should also take a look at the one produced by Trans Media Watch as it is written by trans people. They have guidance here and a style guide downloadable here.
Ah, thanks! I did go to the TMW site before, but only went to “For the Media” and “Links”.
There’s a nice autobiographical sketch on her Web site which has provided me with some useful material for the article, but it’s all about her artistic influences and career, so no help on this particular point. Everyone else who worked on the show is dead as well; the only quotes I can find from them on the topic are from when she had surgery and her transition became public knowledge. No clues as to when she might have started transitioning.
Anyway, it looks like the answers I need are in both those guides. And as I’ve just gotten admin rights to the wiki, any transphobic fanboys who turn up can be… dealt with. 🙂