At this point in journalism history, does anyone expect to read New York Times coverage of events and trends on the Religious Right and find a single sentence that presents interesting, provocative information — drawn from interviews with cultural conservatives — that supports that point of view?
OK, #TriggerWarning. This post assumes that, when dealing with hot-button issues, journalists should present information that accurately represents the views of people on both sides of those debates. Here is another way of stating that: Stories about controversial, divisive issues should contain information that make people on each sides uncomfortable.
This brings us to that recent Times piece with this headline: “How a Campaign Against Transgender Rights Mobilized Conservatives.” This is a classic case of the “conservatives pounce” trend in which news stories are defined in terms of conservative responses to a national trend, with next to zero discussions of the origins and nature of the trend itself.
Before we get to the Times sermon on this topic, let’s back up a bit and consider some background information. Here is a byte from a Reuters report:
In 2021, about 42,000 children and teens across the United States received a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, nearly triple the number in 2017, according to data Komodo compiled for Reuters. Gender dysphoria is defined as the distress caused by a discrepancy between a person’s gender identity and the one assigned to them at birth.
Overall, the analysis found that at least 121,882 children ages 6 to 17 were diagnosed with gender dysphoria from 2017 through 2021.
Here’s another look at the general trend, which includes a few hints at the wider debates:
The number of young people who identify as transgender has nearly doubled in recent years, according to a new report that captures a stark generational shift and emerging societal embrace of a diversity of gender identities.
The analysis, relying on government health surveys conducted from 2017 to 2020, estimated that 1.4 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds and 1.3 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds were transgender, compared with about 0.5 percent of all adults. Those figures illustrated a significant rise since the researchers’ previous report in 2017, though the analyses used different methods.
Experts said that young people increasingly have the language and social acceptance to explore their gender identities, whereas older adults may feel more constrained. But the numbers, which vary widely from state to state, also raise questions about the role of peer influence or the political climate of the community.
Actually, that material is from a 2022 story in the New York Times. Interesting.
Let’s look at another hot story linked to trans issues, focusing on an issue that is driving much of the furor (that word does apply) on the cultural right. The headline: “When Students Change Gender Identity, and Parents Don’t Know.” Here are two key bytes from that:
Although the number of young people who identify as transgender in the United States remains small, it has nearly doubled in recent years, and schools have come under pressure to address the needs of those young people amid a polarized political environment where both sides warn that one wrong step could result in irreparable harm.
Also this:
… [D]ozens of parents whose children have socially transitioned at school told The Times they felt villainized by educators who seemed to think that they — not the parents — knew what was best for their children. They insisted that educators should not intervene without notifying parents unless there is evidence of physical abuse at home. Although some didn’t want their children to transition at all, others said they were open to it, but felt schools forced the process to move too quickly, and that they couldn’t raise concerns without being cut out completely or having their home labeled “unsafe.”
I realize, of course, that these two quotes are from a story that led to a revolt in the Times newsroom — NPR report here — against coverage that included voices (or framing material) critical of the the actions of many, but not all, LGBTQ activists on this matter. Times management responded, in part, by saying: “We do not welcome, and will not tolerate, participation by Times journalists in protests organized by advocacy groups or attacks on colleagues on social media and other public forums.”
Now, what about the contents of the aforementioned “conservatives pounce” Times update on the activities of the Religious Right? The basic idea is that conservatives sought out issues linked to “parental rights,” privacy issues for women and the rights of DNA women in sports — as opposed to responding to a cultural tsunami they had nothing to do with.
At the heart of the story is the point of view of a conservative organization that, frankly, I had not heard about until reading this story. Then again, I don’t spend a lot of time hanging out with the Religious Right. There is no previous mention of this group in nearly 20 years of GetReligion material.
This is the heart of the “pounce” angle:
“We knew we needed to find an issue that the candidates were comfortable talking about,” said Terry Schilling, the president of American Principles Project, a social conservative advocacy group. “And we threw everything at the wall.”
What has stuck, somewhat unexpectedly, is the issue of transgender identity, particularly among young people. Today, the effort to restrict transgender rights has supplanted same-sex marriage as an animating issue for social conservatives at a pace that has stunned political leaders across the spectrum. It has reinvigorated a network of conservative groups, increased fund-raising and set the agenda in school boards and state legislatures.
This is a valid point of view. That political angle is part of the story.
The key, however, is whether this activism is what is driving the wider national debates surrounding the surge in rapid-onset gender dysphoria.
I kept looking for references to voices on these issues who have literally nothing to do with Religious Right politics — people like Bari Weiss, Andrew Sullivan, J.K. Rowling, Abigail Shrier, Martina Navratilova and the parents behind the must-follow 4thWaveNow Twitter feed. And I expected to read about this legal and scientific earthquake in Great Britain, back in 2022:
The National Health Service in England announced … that it was shutting down the country’s only youth gender clinic in favor of a more distributed and comprehensive network of medical care for adolescents seeking hormones and other gender treatments.
The closure followed an external review of the Tavistock clinic in London, which has served thousands of transgender patients since the 1990s. The review, which is ongoing, has raised several concerns, including about long wait times, insufficient mental health support and the surging number of young people seeking gender treatments.
The overhaul of services for transgender young people in England is part of a notable shift in medical practice across some European countries with nationalized health care systems. Some doctors there are concerned about the increase in numbers as well as the dearth of data on long-term safety and outcomes of medical transitions.
In the United States, doctors specializing in gender care for adolescents have mixed feelings about the reforms in Europe. Although many agree that more comprehensive health care for transgender youth is badly needed, as are more studies of the treatments, they worry that the changes will fuel the growing political movement in some states to ban such care entirely.
That’s from a New York Times report, as well. Interesting.
To be blunt, I kept waiting for these words to appear in the “conservatives pounce” report, linked to the rising tide of detransition testimonies (yes, a trend that needs serious study by activists on both sides). Those words — Class. Action. Lawsuits.
Near the end of the “conservatives pounce” story is a tiny hint of divisions on the cultural left — a tiny window that immediately vanishes:
Though some on the left are still uncertain about how to best navigate the fraught politics of transgender issues, there’s an emerging consensus on the right.
Now, why is there uncertainty on the left?
Stay tuned. The Times may — at some point — have the courage to listen to important voices on both sides on this trans-trend story.
FIRST IMAGE: Uncredited feature art at Trans Guys website feature, “TESTOSTERONE SHORTAGES: WHATCHA GONNA DO WHEN THEY COME FOR YOU?”