by Madeleine Roberts •
Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, Media Matters for America and the Trans Jounalists Association released a new resource, “FAQ for Reporters Writing about Anti-Trans Violence.”
The FAQ includes answers to questions that are often raised when reporters are covering violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people and provides additional resources for reporters. The release of the FAQ comes on Transgender Day of Remembrance, a time to remember the transgender and gender non-conforming people who have been lost to fatal violence over the course of the previous year.
So far this year, at least 37 transgender and gender non-conforming people have been killed in the United States. Tragically, initial media coverage often does not report on these deaths accurately and respectfully, and that is unacceptable. This new resource from the Human Rights Campaign, Media Matters and the Trans Journalists Association will work to bring an end to the misgendering and misidentification that we so often see. Transgender and gender non-conforming people deserve to be treated with dignity, and this guide will help to make that a reality.”
Too often, transgender and gender non-conforming people are not referred to accurately and with respect in media reports after their deaths. As we work to dismantle stigma and bias that transgender and gender non-conforming people so often face, ensuring that media reporting about trans and non-binary people is accurate is essential. This FAQ will serve as a valuable resource for all reporters who are writing about this epidemic of fatal violence that impacts the trans and gender non-conforming community. The Human Rights Campaign is proud to partner with Media Matters and the Trans Journalists Association on this critical resource.”
The FAQ answers questions such as how reporters can find information to correctly identify a transgender or gender non-conforming person, how to handle a situation when someone who knew the trans or gender non-conforming person identifies them incorrectly and how to update an inaccurate story. The report also covers the importance of including information about the trans or gender non-conforming person’s life, not just their death, and about the importance of building relationships with the local trans and non-binary community.
Yesterday, HRC released “An Epidemic Of Violence: Fatal Violence Against Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People in the United States in 2020,” a distressing report honoring the at least 37 transgender and gender non-conforming people killed so far in 2020. This year, HRC has officially recorded more violent deaths of transgender and gender non-conforming people than any year since we began tracking this violence. Since January 2013, HRC has documented more than 200 transgender and gender non-conforming people who were victims of fatal violence.
To make a general inquiry, please visit our contact page. Members of the media can reach our press office at: (202) 572-8968 or email press@hrc.org.
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