The Advocate Misgenders Trans Woman

[ccharles000]

It’s pretty well known that the Advocate, while billing itself as an LGBT news publication, doesn’t exactly give trans issues a whole lot of coverage at all. But taking a look at this latest move, one almost has to wonder whether silence is preferable.

A man and woman named Jason Stenson and Kimah Nelson got married in NY state. Why is it news? Because Kimah is also trans. Which means that outlets like the NY Post are reporting that the two have “duped” the state into certifying a “same-sex” marriage, and that the state is also claiming their marriage is not valid.

So how did the Advocate respond? By fighting back against the misgendering of Kimah Nelson and demanding better, more respectful reporting? By admonishing the state for their declaration that Kimah isn’t a woman? By just ignoring it entirely? Or, by perpetuating the misgendering themselves?

Sadly, if you guessed the last answer, you’d be correct.


According to Tobi at the Bilerico Project, the article originally referred to Kimah as a man and used male pronouns to describe her. When they received a bunch of complaints and updated the article, they didn’t bother doing so properly — instead, they took out the male pronouns and opted for no pronouns at all. (I was unable to find cached copies of either of these versions — if you have one, let me know.)

http://thecurvature.com/2009/06/18/the-advocate-misgenders-trans-woman/