News and Events => Opinions & Editorials => Topic started by: Shana A on May 14, 2010, 09:04:26 AM Return to Full Version
Title: Media Coverage of ENDA Shows Disturbing Trend
Post by: Shana A on May 14, 2010, 09:04:26 AM
Post by: Shana A on May 14, 2010, 09:04:26 AM
Media Coverage of ENDA Shows Disturbing Trend
May 13, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
http://glaadblog.org/2010/05/13/media-coverage-of-enda-shows-disturbing-trend/ (http://glaadblog.org/2010/05/13/media-coverage-of-enda-shows-disturbing-trend/)
As the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) progresses toward a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, media coverage of its proposed protections for transgender workers is rising. Keeping a close watch over this coverage has revealed a disturbing trend among some reporters to include extremely defamatory remarks from anti-LGBT activists in an attempt to "balance" their stories with opposing viewpoints.
Most of the recent articles discussing ENDA problematically devote significant space to publishing defamatory statements about transgender people by anti-LGBT organizations like the Traditional Values Coalition and its executive director Andrea Lafferty. They frequently describe transgender people as "she-males" and mentally ill. Such defamatory remarks should never be used simply in an effort to provide opposing viewpoints, especially when they stem from a source that is listed as a Hate Group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry.
May 13, 2010 by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
http://glaadblog.org/2010/05/13/media-coverage-of-enda-shows-disturbing-trend/ (http://glaadblog.org/2010/05/13/media-coverage-of-enda-shows-disturbing-trend/)
As the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) progresses toward a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, media coverage of its proposed protections for transgender workers is rising. Keeping a close watch over this coverage has revealed a disturbing trend among some reporters to include extremely defamatory remarks from anti-LGBT activists in an attempt to "balance" their stories with opposing viewpoints.
Most of the recent articles discussing ENDA problematically devote significant space to publishing defamatory statements about transgender people by anti-LGBT organizations like the Traditional Values Coalition and its executive director Andrea Lafferty. They frequently describe transgender people as "she-males" and mentally ill. Such defamatory remarks should never be used simply in an effort to provide opposing viewpoints, especially when they stem from a source that is listed as a Hate Group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry.