News media sucks at reporting on violent attacks on transgender individuals in Washington, D.C.
Posted by Jos - August 28, 2009, at 02:53PM
http://www.feministing.com/archives/017445.html (http://www.feministing.com/archives/017445.html)
It has been a frightening week to be trans in Washington, D.C.
Miriam linked previously to RMJ's excellent critique of Metro Weekly's coverage of an attack on a transgender woman by a gay man. I was particularly struck by Ray Young's approach to solidarity between gay and trans folks. His statement that, "I let her know that I was one of the family, that I was homosexual" assumes that gay and trans individuals are automatically allies. Of course, this is following his violent attack on Janey Kay, a trans woman. Young seems to think he should be perceived as a friend to trans folks just because he's gay and regardless of his actual actions.
I see this largely as the product of the often tokenizing tacking on of "T" after "LGB." As RMJ points out, Metro Weekly claims to be "Washington DC's GLBT Newsmagazine," but their coverage of this story shows a woeful lack of understanding of and respect for transgender individuals.