On June 11, the trial of Dwight DeLee for the murder of Lateisha Green begins. Lateisha was a trans woman who died from gunshot wounds in Syracuse on November 18. And like the murder of Angie Zapata, Lateisha’s murder is being tried as a hate crime.
But local media insist on repeatedly disrespecting her gender identity in their reporting on the case. The fact that Lateisha was a woman was made known very quickly by her friends and family. So there’s no excuse whatsoever for the Syracuse media to be reporting on her murder using an incorrect name and pronouns days, weeks or months after her death — not to mention now.
Using the correct pronouns and name for Lateisha or any trans person matters. It matters firstly on a level of respect and basic decency. And it matters also on a practical level when it comes to ensuring justice. Dwight DeLee’s lawyers have given strong indications that they plan to use the “trans panic” defense — and while it is a defense that thankfully failed for Allen Andrade, we can hardly therefore expect it to fail again.
Local reporting on this case is going to affect how jurors see Lateisha. It may be true that jurors are expected to come to a case without pre-conceived judgments of guilt or innocence — but subconscious bias is virtually impossible to avoid. And if for some reason Dwight DeLee is cleared of the charges brought against him, it damn well ought to be because of evidence and not because of Lateisha’s gender identity. The point of wanting inoffensive reporting is not to sway the case — it’s to make sure that the case is not swayed and that Lateisha is represented fairly and accurately.
For that reason, Monica of Transgriot has asked you to contact Syracuse media outlets and RESPECTFULLY ask them to follow the AP Style Guide, which prescribes using correct pronouns. And I think it’s an excellent idea. I’d also suggest asking that they use the NY Times Style Guide (see previous link), which additionally prescribes using a trans person’s correct name.
I’m not in Syracuse (though I am nearby), but I’ve taken the liberty of finding contact information for three news outlets which I have found violating the above standards:
News 10 Now (ETA: Please see comments for responses and actions from Channel 10 before contacting them further.)
(315) 234-1000 Ext. 2
Online Contact Form
NewsChannel 9 WSYR
(315) 446-9999
NewsChannel9@9wsyr.com
The Post-Standard/Syracuse.com
(315) 251-1810
Online Contact Form
If there’s a prominent news outlet I’ve missed that has been making these same serious errors, let me know in the comments.
Give a call or write an email now, referring to the AP and New York Times style guidelines for reporting on transgender people, and asking them to follow those standards. If you’re from the Syracuse area, say so explicitly! And if you’re not . . . I’d just go with a “I’ve seen your coverage regarding this case and am very concerned” approach.
But speak up! If enough of us do it, it really can make a difference.
NOTE: This is not a place for trans 101 questions. If you have one, google it.
Channel 10 responded to my feedback as follows:
Hello and thanks for your note. I am curious about where you have seen our coverage and what version of the stories you are looking at. During our initial coverage of this crime, police identified Lateisha Green by her legal name of Moses Cannon, and officials in the legal system continue to refer to her by that name, which we cannot control. As soon as we were made aware of her preferred name we began to use that. But to avoid viewer confusion, there are stories that refer to her as “Moses ‘Teish’ Cannon,” or as “Moses Cannon, a transgender person who used the name Lateisha Green.” We have used female pronouns throughout our follow-up coverage. I and my senior staff also attended a learning session in early April sponsored by several local LGBT organizations, regarding the media coverage of this and similar stories.
The difficulty with this story is that the authorities continue to refer to Teish as “Moses Cannon,” since that is her legal name. It forces us to use at least part of that name, or to use both names and explain why there are two names. This is not an effort to ignore how she identified herself or to disrespect anyone. It is simply to avoid viewer confusion.
Below is a link to our most recent stories on this case.
http://news10now.com/Default.aspx?ArID=136822
Thanks for allowing me an opportunity to respond.
Ron Lombard
General Manager
I’m pleased that Channel 10 at least thinks that they’re committed to proper identification of Lateisha, and that they’re using correct pronouns, but it seems to me that there is no real reason to be using the name that Lateisha was given at birth.
It’s true that her incorrect name was reported by police at the time of her murder, and so it was published. But the idea of avoiding confusion seems rather overblown to me. Further, if that was really their only concern, they wouldn’t be putting her name in quotes as though it’s a nickname, and they wouldn’t be listing the incorrect name first, thereby giving it more legitimacy. The only even potentially defensible phrasing they could be using is “Lateisha Green (whose name was erroneously reported as _____ in previous stories)” if what they’re really so concerned about is reader confusion.
I’ll admit that I haven’t yet written my letters (I always planned to do it later on today), but I’m going to do it now and make the above argument to them. I’ll also update the post next to Channel 10′s info to tell readers to see these details.
Just for reference’s sake:
Judging from Channel 9′s most recent story (that I could find), they are using correct pronouns — they are, however, not only using her incorrect name, but doing so quite gratuitously.
And judging from The Post Standard/Syracuse.com’s latest story, they are the worst offender, seemingly refusing to use Teish’s correct name at all except in scare quotes, and using incorrect pronouns all over the place.
Thought it might be helpful when you’re contacting them.
Since the police keep using her former name for some reason, the media would have to use it at some point if they want to use direct quotes from the police. But that excuse is [i]really[/i] being abused in the link Cara posted. They only need one mention of it by the quote, but instead they pour it all over (which actually looks more confusing, IMHO, in addition to being rude and disrespectful). It’s also annoying that when they do manage to call her by her name, they only use her first name when news article normally use people’s last names. They’re not even trying to be respectful of her.
Well, I’ve received an email from Channel 10. As a result of our emails, they have agreed to start referring to Lateisha primarily by her correct name, and to introduce her as “”Lateisha Green, a transgender person whose legal name was Moses Cannon.”
Which is, um, a step up from listing the incorrect name first and treating Lateisha as though it’s purely a nickname, I guess?
I’ve emailed back, particularly suggesting that they look at some of the major media coverage of the trial for Angie Zapata’s murder for ideas on how to refer to Lateisha more respectfully, and am waiting to see if I receive further correspondence from them. I’d really like to get something a bit better out of them than this, but we’ll see.
And yes, Marle, while it is very common for bloggers such as myself to use the first name of victims in blog posts, particularly when advocating on behalf of them, in a supposedly objective news story, it is just plain weird, definitely sketchy, and yes, I would say disrespectful.
And here’s a worse response (or non-response) from The Post-Standard/Syracuse.com:
Please contact The Post-Standard directly at 315-470-0011.
Sincerely,
syracuse.com
Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: BXN-355270
Department: Syracuse_Feedback
Priority: Low
Status: Closed
WOW, M. Eden. Channel 10 at least appears to be aware of the issue and why there is some pushback re: her name and the pronoun usage.
@ Cara, FWIW as someone who was a reporter, there is a bit of challenge for the media when police (and prosecutors?) continue to refer to Green by her legal name. (Especially in police reports/court cases where there’s a higher potential for a libel lawsuit, showing that “you stuck to the facts” is a concern.)
That said, Channel 10′s solution of using “”Lateisha Green, a transgender person whose legal name was Moses Cannon” on first reference — and if need be doing things like “X who referred to Green as ‘Moses’” is a realistic solution and one that’s inline with both the letter and the spirit of both the AP Style Book and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Associations Stylebook Supplement on LGBT Terminology, both of which call for (as NLGJA puts it) “When writing about a transgender person, use the name and personal pronouns that are consistent with the way the individual lives publicly.” and “To determine accurate use of names or personal pronouns, use the name and sex of the individual at the time of the action.” (“Action” as in the events being reported.
FYI, if you write and complain, it’s worth mentioning the stylebook guidelines — since that (ideally) carries more weight.
I’ve sent a comment to the Post-Standard, but I don’t expect to get anything more than M. Eden did.
Excuse me if this is a derail, but after reading this and following the Andrade trial, I can’t help wondering if there is any potential legal means of stopping defense attorneys from “putting the victim on trial” by deliberately using the wrong name and pronouns, similar to the rape shield laws?
(Everything I know about law comes from watching Law & Order, so forgive me if this is a stupid question that’s already been covered.)
Lisa — I’m almost positive that it was covered by someone in the thread linked above with the text “trans panic defense.” I don’t remember the exact reasoning for the answer, but I’m pretty sure the basic answer was, unfortunately and infuriatingly, “no.” But I’d check there.
I contacted The Post Standard too, but have yet to get even an automated reply. Really, I’m not surprised by this at all. I’m from Syracuse, and I know a lot of people who refer to the Post Standard as the “Sub Standard.” It’s never been a good paper, ever, but it seems that recently it has gotten even worse. I go to school on Long Island, so I haven’t really been following this case too closely, but I must say I’m surprised there hasn’t been a lot more outrage over the coverage and use of names and pronouns. While Central and Upstate New York tend to be pretty conservative, Onondaga County (which is where Syracuse is) has always been a bit more left leaning, definitely in regards to LGBT issues. I’m really shocked, not by the coverage, but by the lack of reaction to it at home.
emails sent.
and i would just like to rant – i use my middle name, and EVERYONE (and i do mean everyone, hospitals, teachers, the awards presenter last week when i got another scholarship) manages to correctly call me “Elizabeth”. hell, even when i was in the paper, they wrote ‘(Sara) Elizabeth (lastname), who uses her middle name…”
if they can do that for *me*, what the fuck is the issue doing for Lateisha and everyone else?!
sorry, /
erm… the last bit of my post disappeared
it said
“sorry, /rant”
sigh
Calls made. Assholes…
The local CBS, NBC and CW affiliates all share a news staff (don’t get me started on that one). You can reach them at:
Barrington Broadcasting
1030 James Street
Syracuse, NY 13203
(315) 477-9400
Or use http://www.cnycentral.com/about/contact_us_form.aspx
Sorry, try this instead.
Thanks for the link love for TransGriot on this issue and helping get the word out. It is vitally important to the dispensation of justice in this case that respectful news coverage of Lateisha happens ASAP.
If you see news stories in your own locales that disrespect GLBT people happening, send GLAAD the information about it as well.