Lies about transgender people (and how to spot a rubbish journalist)

Ever been kicked in the face? I have. Violence is common towards children who display gender difference. Poofter, they used to call me. AIDS victim, they’d whisper. Walk like a man, boy, or get a clip ’round the earhole. That last one came from my father. Still, as one matures, so does the nature of the bullying. Instead of gossip and ciggies behind bike-sheds, badmouthing is done by respectable journalists in national newspapers. Take the Telegraph’s Ed West, for example, who seems perfectly comfortable belittling the existence of “transphobia” (hatred towards transgender people). His quotation marks, not mine. Guess he’s never had a kick in the head. In fact, I doubt he has any subjective experience of being trans, and nor will many of his readers. That’s the trouble.

I question everything, now. I recall articles from years back, on various subjects; “facts” stuck in my head; fears I was given; health advice. Were all those items poorly researched too? I see so much rot written about trans people that I just don’t know anymore. Does anyone – from legal correspondents to sports editors – really know what they’re writing about? And, if not, why read their work? News is produced on increasingly small budgets and research is becoming a luxury. Press standards are under scrutiny. Would cynics be better off reading blogs by real experts?

Check out this opinion piece by Ross Clarke, published by the Daily Mail last week: “Beware of the sex-change zealots: Why IS the state so obsessed with whether we’re transgender?” Poor Clarke is outraged because a form asked him if he is transgender. I sympathise. I broke an eyelash once, so I know how upsetting traumas like this can be. Meanwhile, research commissioned by the Equalities Review shows that 73 per cent of trans people have experienced harassment and 47 per cent avoid public facilities for fear of discrimination. But sure, begrudge us a box that acknowledges we exist.

So, how can you tell if what you’re reading is rubbish? I have no idea how much of my daily news is true, but a visit to Islamophobia-Watch.com suggests that trans people are not the only minority group newspapers lie about. Still, there are 6 giveaways for poorly written trans features:

1.   Sex Change. This is seldom used by trans people and has zero medical currency. Authors who use this have nothing valuable to share on trans issues.

2.   Children having “sex changes”. Always false. In the UK, trans surgery is only performed on those aged 18 and above. Children prescribed reversible puberty blockers will have been monitored for years following careful guidelines.

3.   Hermaphrodite. Widely offensive and biologically inaccurate. Humans with biological sex differences are described as intersex. Or people.

4.   Taxpayers/NHS waste of money/cosmetic surgery. Don’t trust anyone who mentions tax during a polemic against trans people. Trans people also pay taxes, and we are more likely to do so when provided with proper healthcare and freedom from discrimination. Nevertheless, “wasteful” trans treatment costs are frequently exaggerated.

5.   “Gender” – in quotation marks. Everyone has a gender identity. Clothing, language, toilets and many other arbitrary social cogs are gendered. Pretending that trans people have imagined their gender is, well, delusional.

6.   Regret. Studies show that an astonishing 98 per cent of people who undergo genital surgery express no regret. Regret usually focuses on surgical results. Any journalist who mentions transition regret, without acknowledging this, has made a terrible mistake.

As Julia Serano notes in the eminently sensible Whipping Girl, traditional media have set stories to tell. It’s true. I was due to appear on morning TV last month but was dropped after I declined to share “before” photos. Must I be reduced to shock, surgery and before-and-after shots? Trans people won various legal rights in 2004, including the right to marry, but, unlike the gay marriage debate, this received scant press. That same year the tabloids were saturated with “jokes” about Big Brother contestant Nadia Almada. There is public appetite for stories about trans people after all: point-and-stare ones.

That said, trans man Luke Anderson received largely positive coverage following his recent Big Brother victory. Are things improving? Or could this be explained by traditional sexism, and the fact that male identities are less open to attack? Or perhaps editors have finally noticed that trans contestants are incredibly popular? The public certainly seem to adore trans people, given the chance to get to know one.

It’s a shame, then, that we are missing out on so many stellar stories; compelling, moving, shocking and funny stories; stories that everyone could identify with, or learn something from, given the opportunity. These narratives are drowned out by the bullies, bigots and dullards; those who spread misinformation on subjects about which they know nothing. For those of us in the know, it’s a real kick in the teeth.

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• http://www.facebook.com/jayska.teag Jayska Teag

  I agree with you, it -can- be very scary to be transgender in this world, the tenant in my apartment before I was mtf and left because someone in the community found out and fired off a few shots into the building (I hear things are getting better so I hope, gods do I hope)

• PJ

  Some chromosome combinations with some comments:

  XX Female
  XY Male
  XXY (Klinefelters Syndrome)
  XYY
  X0 (or X or Single-X aka Turner Syndrome)
  XX SRY-positive (with male genitals aka XX-male Syndrome aka de la Chapelle Syndrome)
  XX SRY negative (less strongly defined male genitals)
  XXX (Triple-X Syndrome)
  XXYY

  Are you starting to get the picture?

• Charlottey

  Another great article, Paris. Yes, it’s quite common to hear right-wing commentators and politicians, getting in an outraged tiswas over trans status being recognised on forms etc. This, to me, seems to be a recurring tactic amongst the political reactionary right – it’s almost as if it’s a deliberate strategy to erase trans people and our experience. They just wish we’d go away and hide back in the closet – it’s a joy to see that yourself and a growing number of others are not doing that. If these right-wingers were genuine egalitarians who thought that singling out ‘transgender’ categories on say for instance job application forms was irrelevant, then they’d also be saying let’s not put gender on job application and other forms all together – to guard against sexist prejudice etc. Tellingly, we don’t see the same people who moan about transgender tick boxes on forms saying that(!)

• http://www.facebook.com/people/Sarah-Davis/100000161094361 Sarah Davis

  Don’t forget the costs associated with pregnancy that the NHS has to pay for, also, the big one is normally “How many hip ops could be done instead of srs surgeries” – well, 1 or 2, but how many hip op are done per year – thousands, how many srs surgeries, just over 100 – you do the maths.

• http://www.facebook.com/people/Sarah-Davis/100000161094361 Sarah Davis

  You choose to drink, you choose to smoke, yes it’s an addiction, but it’s one you chose. You choose to eat fast food when you could have a salad. The point Paris was trying to make, is trans people are outnumbered by smokers, drinker and people with weight issues. I’m overweight myself, I’m also diabetic, and doing all I can to lose weight, but I’ve also just been put on meds that increased my weight as a side effect. This wasn’t an attack on those people though, just putting things into perspective.

• http://www.facebook.com/people/Sarah-Davis/100000161094361 Sarah Davis

  Smoke CHOOSE to smoke, and put their health at risk. They might have had the excuse in the 1950’s and 60 that they didn’t know about the health issues back then, but we’re all fully aware of them now. You chose to smoke, so why should my taxes go to treating you when you get cancer? Because you will need medical treatment, that’s why, and that’s what the NHS is about, not making moral judgements, just treating those that need treating.

• http://twitter.com/hollowpetal Meg McGowan

  I think your comments on
  “Beware of the sex-change zealots: Why IS the state so obsessed with whether we’re transgender?” were a bit harsh as the author seemed to a) support transgender people right to call themselves male/female and not have to disclose that they are transgender and that b) for trangender people to not be used as a measure of how “accepting” an organisation is. He mentioned being transexual as being a dysmorphia not a disorder and was perfectly accepting and polite.

• http://www.facebook.com/hhindley Hannah Hindley

  I live in the states, on the west coast, and have met and known (and crushed) on a few transgendered individuals. I am sorry I cant empathize with the bullying and hatred, but i can say to hate anyone for WHO they are (as opposed to what they do [I'm opposed to hate in general anyway]) reflects solely on the hater, not the hatee.

• http://twitter.com/hollowpetal Meg McGowan

  if you read that dudes post you will see that the smokers pay extra tax because of the high taxes on tobacco as well as paying income tax and such, so they whole whining about joe taxpayer footing the bill is a bit steep. What about another poster who was saying about socio-economic issues and people who because of the area’s they live choose (yes choose) smoking not knowing the risks as well as you do, they might only know their uncle Jim who smoked til they were 90 and think all the dangers of smoking are propganda.