Content Warning: Discussion of transphobia, sexual assault, and references to genitals
One does not have to spend much time examining the current American news zeitgeist to find a new story on childhood transition, increased restrictions on trans athletes, or a variety of legislation that impede trans rights. In the US, conservatives have only started to mobilize by taking aim at transgender identity, but worldwide, restrictions on trans people have been increasing for years. The discriminatory regulations that are being introduced in the US were already present in an eerily similar fashion within the UK where the media and government have torn down and disregarded the rights of trans people.
One of the most egregious examples of rampant anti-trans legislation and transphobic media coverage over the past few years can be found within the United Kingdom. In Great Britain, failure to disclose gender history with a consenting sexual partner is considered rape through the means of “gender fraud”. This law isn’t archaic. In fact, it was established as legal precedent only in 2013, and it has led to several convictions of transgender partners, such as the case of R vs. McNally. In this case, a trans man was sentenced to 3 years in a juvenile detention center and was placed on a sex offender registry due to accusations of “gender deception” despite consensual sexual encounters prior to the plaintiff learning of his gender assigned at birth. But how can a person fraudulently represent their own gender? This idea can only be justified under a common belief that sex or genitals are inherent to gender. However, gender is a socially constructed idea defined by societal and cultural norms and individual expression. Unsurprisingly, this misrepresentation of trans identity is also common in the rhetoric of leading British media figures, celebrities, and news stations.
The BBC, commonly perceived as an unbiased, neutral news source worldwide, printed a 2021 article with the open proclamation that lesbians are pressured into having sex with transgender women. The article, titled “The lesbians who feel pressured to have sex with trans women”, built itself around a self-reported survey with the claim that 56 percent of lesbians in the UK felt pressured into having sex or entering relationships with transgender women. Although BBC editors have since edited the article and its headline to reflect that the self-selected survey “lack[s] statistical validity,” these updates did not occur until six months after the article’s release. Even still, the piece details the accounts of lesbians who report that they felt coerced into sexual partnerships with transwomen in fear of being labeled a TERF (trans exclusionary radical feminist) or a transmisogynist. While the debate on the ethics of dating preferences is a highly complex matter that requires an entirely separate article, this 2021 BBC article frames transwomen as predatory and threatening to cisgendered lesbian women, a common trope weaponized by media outlets to incite public outcry. These negative stereotypes about trans women and trans people in general have been used to justify legislation that targets and criminalizes trans identity. Inaccurate and sensationalist articles aren’t the only thing that plague the outlet, as the gap between the reality that transgender people face in the country and the threat the BBC conveys is quite stark.
Before her recent resignation, the British prime minister Liz Truss had no issue with openly espousing transphobic talking points. Within the first few weeks of her term, Truss sought out legal advice to effectively block legislation that could fully reform Scotland’s 2004 Gender Recognition Act, according to two UK government whistleblowers who corresponded with Vice News. The Gender Recognition Act details the measures to obtain a “Gender Recognition Certificate” (GRC), or a document that grants an individual the ability to alter their legal gender. A 2020 press release from Truss, who served as Minister for Women and Equalities at the time, details an incredibly uncompromising application process to receive a GRC:
“In order to apply for a GRC, applicants will continue to need:
● A medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria from an approved medical practitioner;
● A medical report from an approved medical professional providing details of any treatment they have had;
● Evidence they have lived in their new gender for at least two years;
● Agreement from their spouse/civil partner…;
● Make a statutory declaration that they intend to live in the acquired gender until death (making a false statement is a criminal offence).”
Then, after paying a fee, the required documentation, agreement, and declaration is sent to four judges and four medical professionals who make up a “Gender Recognition Panel” to accept or decline an application.
If passed, the reform bill would eliminate the first three listed requirements in addition to reducing the age minimum to 16. However, Truss resorted to ensuring that these slightly more lenient adjustments are averted. On BBC News, articles detailing Truss’s infringement upon Scotland’s parliament and the ramifications of preventing changes to such a stringent act are non-existent. Even with the reforms to the Gender Recognition Act, the legislation still lays out an intrusive process that limits the autonomy of trans expression. It also perpetuates harmful ideas such as the notion that trans identity is a mental illness, as signified by the medical diagnosis requisite, and the false idea that gender identity is static throughout a person’s lifetime. In short, the act bars trans people from living freely within society.
In the US, unsurprisingly, the same pattern has emerged. Republicans, online and legislatively, have targeted transgender people and their rights with a burgeoning fervor, while liberal media outlets placate these conservative sentiments. Akin to the BBC, The New York Times, a bastion of the liberal American political center, has attempted to take a moderate stance that amounts to interrogating national data. In their most recent article tackling transgender issues, titled “More Trans Teens Are Choosing ‘Top Surgery’ ”, the problems that riddle the previously mentioned BBC article remain. The author refers to studies that report on the experiences of transgender children as small in sample sizes while maintaining that a study of just 28 individuals who have de-transitioned displays significant examples of “intense regret” over medical transition. In truth, the sample sizes of both studies are extremely small. According to Education Weekly, just 0.7 percent of all 13- to 17-year-old individuals identify as transgender. Moreover, when the author of the NYT article tried to ascertain the number of these children who received top surgery, a form of medical transition, they were only informed of 236 different cases, as many clinics declined to report statistics. In addition, according to Gender GP, a global trans health clinic, only 8 percent of respondents de-transitioned in a survey of 28,000 people, but the majority did so out of financial or family pressure–not due to regret.
While the article does acknowledge the Texas state legislation that removes the right to medically transition, one must wonder why the author of this article chose to sow doubt about medical transition for adolescents with devastating anecdotal stories all while the options for trans adolescents across the country are dissipating.
When the media leaves gaps in its reporting on transgender discrimination sanctioned by law, it sets the stage for a continued festering of transphobic ideals and actions. When news outlets focus on LGBTQ+ pain, regret, and reinforce harmful tropes, they misrepresent what being a member of the queer community can signify. This misinformation also manifests in very real social consequences. According to Pink News, in 2020, ⅔ of transgender people in Britain feared using public restrooms, and 70 percent of the trans people polled cited transphobia as “detrimental to their mental health.” In addition, a Seattle NBC branch wrote that, the number of transgender hate crimes grew by 41 percent between 2019 and 2020 and 2021 was, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the deadliest year for trans people recorded.
For those who have had limited exposure to the trans community or trans issues as a whole, resources such as GLAAD or The Trevor Project can provide accurate information about the experiences of transgender people in the US as starting point. Respectfully talking with openly trans friends about their own experiences is also an effective way to become aware of ways to support the trans community. On campus, the Gender + Sexuality Resource Center provides a wide number of opportunities to connect with members of the LGBTQ+ community such as a number of peer educators, who serve as resources and support for students. By educating yourself and others around you, you can help combat transphobia by advocating and amplifying transgender voices; you can be a force in breaking the cycle of misinformation.
If you choose to continue reading outlets such as BBC News or the New York Times, I urge you to give a closer read of their articles; research their studies, claims, and events, and think critically about them. Understand that they, the editors and media boards, will only make small changes under pressure, but will continue to produce and participate in a culture that upholds increasingly discriminatory laws.
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