New Times,
New Thinking.

25 March 2013

Trans people and the media: compromise is neither desirable nor possible

Some thoughts on their relationship in 2013.

By Juliet Jacques

1.The media has a long history of humiliating and undermining trans people

The media reports on the first transsexual people were mostly reasonable, striving to understand the psychology and the science behind gender reassignment. Coverage became more sensationalistic after World War II, with the screaming headlines and “before and after” photos that came with Christine Jorgensen’s transition in 1952 setting a precedent, and soon the British tabloids began outing people with transsexual histories: Michael Dillon (Daily Express, 1958) and April Ashley (The Sunday People, 1961) amongst them. This practice endures into the present.

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