The White-bodied Supremacy behind the New York Times Trans Coverage

It’s no secret that The New York Times has made a concerted effort to highlight the current trans panic that’s occurring in local, state, and national politics.

They’ve chosen to highlight the side of transphobic parents, TERFs, and bigoted local officials, but rarely turn their gaze to the trans children who are being harmed by the discussion of their legitimacy as human beings. Their coverage questions settled science and the lived experiences of trans people. Many of the people featured in their coverage say they want to protect children (from other children playing sports with them) and women (from women minding their own business in a bathroom), but in reality, they are trying to make trans people disappear from society. While the New York Times doesn’t explicitly endorse these views, they do give legitimacy and a spotlight to these anti-trans extremist voices.

Make no mistake, the New York Times’ coverage of trans people is actively advancing the anti-trans legislation that has dominated right-wing state houses, the GOP-led House, and more. Their articles have been cited in many of the 378 anti-trans bills that are popping up across U.S. state houses. Their coverage is endangering the lives of our trans brothers and sisters.

After a petition signed by hundreds of former and current New York Times staffers denounced their coverage and called for better trans representation in the bullpen, execs defended their coverage saying there was no bias.

“I want to talk to you briefly about journalistic independence,” said Carolyn Ryan in an all-hands meeting at the New York Times. “We don’t do our work in an effort to please organizations, governments, presidents, activist groups, ideological groups,”

And honestly, I believe that they believe they were not biased in their trans coverage.

Because their bias is so embedded into the United States culture it goes unnoticed or easily deflected. And it is rooted in one of our oldest doctrines, white supremacy.

White supremacy’s whole thing is that white people, more specifically cis-hetero, able-bodied, male bodies are superior to other people. But white supremacy is tricky. It can shield its true intentions. One of those shields is that white supremacy is so baked into our culture that we internalize the idea that white bodies are the human standard.

That’s what the New York Times is doing when it prioritizes cis voices over trans people’s lived experiences.

Being Marginalized Doesn’t Make You An Activist

The New York Times' defense of their coverage was to say we’re just reporting on the news. They criticized the journalists who signed on to the petition by accusing them of being activists.

“We do not welcome, and will not tolerate, participation by Times journalists in protests organized by advocacy groups or attacks on colleagues on social media and other public forums.”

But the real question is what is activism? What is advocacy?

The assumption that the New York Times is taking is that activism and advocacy can only happen to marginalized groups. If you’re talking about something that white people believe, then it’s not considered advocacy. It’s just the norm.

That’s a huge problem and a complete misreading of the definition of advocacy.

The definition of advocacy is public support for or recommendation of a particular cause or policy. When you choose to amplify certain voices over others, you are making an advocacy choice.

That’s exactly what the New York Times is doing when they publish articles defending infamous TERF, J.K. Rowling, or when they amplify shady science from anti-trans “medical experts.” By talking about it and giving it an international and legitimate platform, they are allowing their own over-coverage of an issue to set the agenda for bigoted legislators and the national conversation.

What is most disheartening about the whole thing is that this isn’t their first or even second transgression of harmful coverage against marginalized groups. They have had a history of poorly covering marginalized identities. In an interview by NPR, NPR journalist David Folkenflik reminded us.

“So, you know, if you think back to how the Times covered gay rights and gay people, it was for decades dismissive, condescending, patronizing or antagonistic, hostile in a way that the Times ultimately had to grapple with a few decades ago and come to terms with and change the way they approached this.

The New York Times bills itself as the “paper of record.” If that’s the case, it needs to be the record for all people. Otherwise, it is just serving to maintain white-bodied supremacy.

Call Out It Out; Flip the Norms

This is just one example of how white-bodied supremacy is keeping us back from the progress we need to make. The rise in fascism is real and many institutions and people are inadvertently helping its rise.

That’s where we come in.

The assumption that white people are the standard needs to be challenged regularly and in all sectors of society.

The United States is only growing more multi-racial. Gen Z is the most diverse generation in history and is much more open about sexuality and gender. In order for us to have a world that works for younger generations, we need to start enthusiastically challenging the old guard.

“As a black journalist I have seen how charges of activism can be used to discredit journalists of underrepresented backgrounds who may come to work with a different lens” — Astead Herndon, reporter

We each have the power to shape the narrative within ourselves, our communities, and more broadly. We need to be disrupting any narrative that assumes white bodies are the norm every time we see it. In doctor’s offices where Black women’s pain is not believed. In public schools where book bans attempt to hide American history. In youth sports where trans kids just want to play and have fun with their friends.

White-bodied supremacy is sinister. It shows up in so many facets of our lives. Will you be the person that calls it out or remains silent as marginalized groups continue to be prayed on?