Queer people fight for equal
Associated Press will be using gender-neutral pronouns when referring to nonbinary people
Associated Press recently announced its acceptance of the gender pronouns “they”, “them” and “their” when referring to nonbinary people — a move hailed as a positive step in securing greater visibility for queer identities.
Already in effect online, the change will be included in the 2017 AP Stylebook on May 31, regarded as the template for most major newsrooms in the United States.
The entry reads: “In stories about people who identify as neither male nor female or ask not to be referred to as he/she/him/her: Use the person’s name in place of a pronoun, or otherwise reword the sentence, whenever possible. If they/them/ their use is essential, explain in the text that the person prefers a genderneutral pronoun. Be sure that the phrasing does not imply more than one person.”
Media Monitoring Africa director William Bird says: “This is a significant step forward. When one of the major wire news services does this, making it more reflective of the audiences they speak to, it provides an opportunity to advocate and say to other media houses: ‘Have you seen this?’ Also, it’s a small, easy change that can be implemented. And one which has the potential to be a good conscientising tool, because this is not language that is common in the media. Although I imagine the Mail & Guardian has discussed these things and has a policy on it.”
Although this may be true, the M&G is by no means above reproach. After being featured in this newspaper’s Friday section, artist Dean Hutton — who identifies as nonbinary and prefers the pronoun “they” — took issue with what they felt to be an erasure of their identity. The article saw all their preferred gender pronouns replaced with references to “the artist” or “Hutton”.
Following a telephonic apology from the arts editor, however, Hutton now says: “It was handled incredibly well; the way which she spoke to me. So, something that could have been experienced in a violent way was mitigated by an editor who understands what it is like to be misidentified.”
Khadija Patel, editor-in-chief of the M&G, says: “It is imperative that we reflect trans and gender-diverse people in an accurate and respectful way. In the case of Dean Hutton, we got it wrong, but we used that incident as an opportunity to ensure that we do not disrespect or indeed misrepresent the identities of the people we write about.”
Bird says that, given the sensitive nature of reporting on gender identity, errors are bound to creep in.
“What is clear from research we have conducted into sexual orientation, gender identity and gender is that even those in the media who are aware of these issues perpetuate some of these stereotypes. And when it is pointed out to them, they would say something along the lines of, ‘Wow, we’ve got to change that.’ ”
For Hutton, the media needs to be more mindful. “In general, journalists, subeditors and editors sit in an incredibly powerful position, with no experience of being othered.
“Because of this position, they are willing to let a set of essentially random style rules overrule an individual’s dignity and right to dignity in the way in which they wish to be addressed and identify,” they says.
The ways in which queer people are represented goes further than “essentially random style rules”. Anastacia Tomson, a transgender woman and author, says: “I’ve been the subject of numerous headlines suggesting that I was ‘born in the wrong body’ or a ‘woman in a man’s body’. My body is neither ‘wrong’, nor is it a ‘man’s body’. I’m a woman, and it is my body. It is perhaps unique and different to some other bodies, but it is nonetheless my body.
“Those sorts of phrases strip us of agency over our bodies and serve only to reduce our personal histories and experiences to stereotypical, reductive and inaccurate concepts.
“Too often, those who are retelling our stories will either twist the narratives to fit their own preconceptions, or will simply be insensitive to the nuances and complexities that surround transgender identity.”
Clinical psychologist Itumeleng Mamabolo says: “The heteronormative way of engaging with people is problematic because it assumes that there is a norm and everyone is measured by that standard. Making assumptions about somebody and writing that they were, for example, ‘born in the wrong body’ implies that there is somehow a ‘right body’ to have been born in. For someone trying to come to terms with themselves as a complex being, this will cause added distress and trauma.”
Tomson says she now briefs journalists and insists they read “a style guide on appropriate language for discussing trans issues prior to undertaking interviews”.
The style guide Tomson refers to is the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (Glaad) Media Reference Guide, “to be used by journalists reporting for mainstream media outlets and by creators in entertainment media who want to tell the stories of LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and questioning] people fairly and accurately”.
Glaad chief executive and president Sarah Kate Ellis writes in her introduction to the reference guide: “Media coverage of LGBTQ people has become increasingly multidimensional, reflecting both the diversity of the community and the growing visibility of LGBTQ people’s families and relationships.”
Tomson says: “I think that although representation might have improved in recent years, there is still a long way to go. Queer is still seen as outlandish, deviant or sensational. Too often, portrayals of queer identity lose the complexity and humanity of the individuals involved, and seek to simplify the pertinent issues so that they fit into the often flawed mainstream idea of what constitutes queer.”
Shaun Westley, a reader of The Daily Voice, laid a complaint with the press ombudsman in July last year against the Western Cape-based newspaper, after the paper ran a front-page headline that said: “Maak die moffie vrek”.
Westley says “the paper’s argument was that they were speaking the language of their readers. But my argument was that language, in itself, is a tool of violence and that these micro-aggressions ultimately shape people’s perceptions of others and how they classify them.”
His bid to have the newspaper apologise for having “perpetuated the dehumanisation of the gay community” was ultimately dismissed.
Athena Marsden is a 23-yearold transgender woman who, after being interviewed for a feature in a local newspaper, says: “I was quite shocked at the way in which my transness was positioned in the article and how there was a blatant disregard for gender identity.
“Prior to the interview, the journalist and I had spoken about how to refer to me, but he chose to write about me in a way that made me feel objectified. I can’t really remember if I approached the paper about the article as I was in the thick of exams, but to a degree I felt that my complaint wouldn’t be taken seriously. I think it’s really easy to feel reduced to ‘that angry trans woman’.”
Local media houses may not be perfect in their coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and questioning (LGBTIQ) people, but Bird says progress has been made.
“In the late 1990s, there were the stereotypical portrayals of queer people, you know, marching through the