Freelance writer and NLGJA member Christopher Carbone has penned a nice summary in The Advocate about media coverage of Chelsea Manning:
“I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female.” With those eight words delivered in a statement read by Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show on August 22, the former Army private and convicted WikiLeaks whistleblower once known as Bradley became the most well-known transgender person in the world, the subject of news industry angst as media grappled with how to refer to Manning and which pronouns to use.
And NLGJA got a shout out:
At the outset, several news organizations, including Reuters and The New York Times, initially referred to Manning by masculine pronouns. Within hours of the announcement, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association issued a statement urging the media to use feminine pronouns and to respect Manning’s wish to be known as Chelsea. The next day, the Times announced that it was following the NLGJA’s guidance on the issue.
Let’s hope more mainstream outlets adopt this guidance.