MANILA, Philippines - US Marine tagged in transgender slay named,” read one headline. “US Marine detained in slay of Olongapo transgender,” said another. Everywhere in the news Jennifer Laude, the transgender woman killed in an Olongapo lodge, was referred to as a “transgender” and with her birth name “Jeffrey.” I, like many of those who follow the news absently, didn’t blink. The big story, after all, was the clearly flawed Visiting Forces Agreement stipulation that gives the US government full custody of US servicemen charged with a crime. I was unaware of the other blatant flaw being committed by the news media for all to see.
“Transgender” is an adjective, not a noun. Much like how calling gay people “gays” rings harshly, the headlines calling Laude “transgender” were equally crass. Transgender people should be identified using their chosen name, not their legal one. These are guidelines set by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Associated Press and widely violated by various news media outlets in the wake of Laude’s murder.
Her name is Jennifer Laude. She is a “transgender woman,” not a “transgender.” They didn’t know better. I didn’t know better. Or rather, I had forgotten.
I come across GLAAD and AP’s media guide for covering transgender issues earlier this year when a story on a transgender woman created much controversy in the US. The story was “Dr. V and her Magical Putter,” written by Caleb Hannan for sports website Grantland, which made the mistake of outing the titular Dr. Essay Ann Vanderbilt as a transgender woman. What was initially a story about a sports product scam quickly turned into a freak curio exposé. Vanderbilt committed suicide after learning of Hannan’s discovery. Grantland still published the piece after her death, earning them weeks’ worth of flak and outrage. The LGBT community pointed to the many ways in which the tragedy could have been avoided, citing the GLAAD media guide.
Widespread ignorance
The widespread ignorance concerning transgender issues can be downplayed as a simple case of inaccessibility, that trans people inhabit secret worlds light years away from civilizations waiting to understand them. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Transgender people, even those who are open with their sex and gender identity, are often ridiculed, reviled and considered as walking freak shows. Many of them refuse to out themselves, fearing harsh judgment, or worse, violence. Among the LGBT community, transgender women are the most common victims of homicide.
Jennifer Laude was, according to her friends, out and proud. Unlike many trans women who are in perpetual fear of being considered pariahs, she had nothing to hide. She was free, confident, and true to herself. She hoped the world around her would accept this truth. Sadly, she might have been naïve.
While this possible hate crime can be separated from the media’s portrayal of Laude’s murder, they’re still cut from the same cloth. Almost all of the headlines made mention of a murdered “transgender,” as if her uncommon gender identification was what made the case unique and not the virtual diplomatic immunity of her suspected murderer. But to a majority of people — in and outside media — the story starts and stops at “transgender.” We cannot look past that word. It halts us in our tracks, dumbfounded with the word’s otherness, in our own inability to understand.
Gruesome headlines
The media coverage of another recent murder of a transgender woman in Australia was far worse. Indonesian national Mayang Prasetyo was found chopped into pieces by police, her remains boiling in an industrial pot. Headlines in Australia described her as a “Shemale” and “Ladyboy.” The more gruesome the murder, it seems, the more gruesome and insensitive the headlines.
Bigotry has achieved a level of anathema unmatched in public discourse, partly because it is an impulse that needs correcting, but mostly because it has been repeatedly used as a stirrup for people who love riding their high horses. Discussions on bigotry that devolve into shouting matches and self-aggrandizing claims of superiority, as is wont to happen, never produce any real insight. Like in any form of discourse, the only way to properly talk about bigotry is to talk about it honestly and with open minds. Bigotry is an impulse ingrained in us by our surroundings and upbringing. Education is the real cure, not shaming. When it comes to transgender people, we in media and society as a whole still have a lot of learning and understanding to do.
The reason media keeps fumbling in discussing transgender people is the same reason why discrimination and violence against them are still rampant. They are considered freaks, not “like us,” and therefore warrant being pointed out in headlines and in public. Until we shake off the otherness from our systems, until we stop insisting that one’s gender identity is the most relevant aspect of one’s personal identity, we will be prone to making the same mistakes over and over again.
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