From Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/parker-marie-molloy/the-medias-coverage-of-transgender-people-im-never-surprised_b_3873762.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices
Parker Marie Molloy
09/06/2013
When a media outlet calls a trans woman a “man,” I’m not surprised. When a website asks trans children questions about “the surgery,” I’m not surprised. When a television network feels the need to include a trans person’s “real name” in reporting, I’m not surprised.
While none of this surprises me, it all disappoints me.
Earlier this week The Huffington Post syndicated a column by Chris Purdy of the Canadian Press. The article, “Wren Kauffman, Edmonton Transgender Boy, Shares Story At School,” was clearly written with the best intentions.
The story outlines Wren’s openness about the fact that he, at 11 years old, is transgender. I can’t imagine being as open about who I was at that age. Good for him.
I dove into the article, eager to read the story of this brave young man, but the first sentence stopped me in my tracks:
When 11-year-old Wren Kauffman goes back to school this week, he won’t be hiding the fact that he’s actually a girl.
No, no, no. Wren is not “actually a girl.” If anything, the article should have read that he’s a boy who was assigned “female” at birth. I continued reading, hoping that that was a one-time slip-up. By the time I’d reached the second sentence, I realized that this wouldn’t be the case:
Teachers, friends and other students at his Edmonton school know the truth — that he’s a girl on the outside, but feels like a boy on the inside. And that’s why, even at such a young age, he has chosen to live in the world as the opposite sex, and not keep it a secret.
Again, this is incorrect. He’s not a “girl on the outside.” Look at his picture. He looks just like any other 11-year-old boy. Also, he has not “chosen to live in the world as the opposite sex,” which sounds more like something someone in the Witness Protection Program would do, or something someone does on Halloween. What was described was a performance, not a reality.
Continue reading at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/parker-marie-molloy/the-medias-coverage-of-transgender-people-im-never-surprised_b_3873762.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices
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