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People Mag Values P.C. Over Factual Correctness: Chastity Bono Is Now
'He' Because 'He' Says So

By Tim Graham

June 22, 2009 - 13:40 ET


In its latest edition (dated June 29), People magazine piled up the
praise for Chastity Bono’s decision to be "Chaz," declaring herself to
be a male. This leads to the kind of journalism that ignores all the
hard-to-obscure physiological facts and goes with the feelings of the
celebrity it’s celebrating:

(Transgendered people believe they were born as the wrong sex, so
except in quotes, PEOPLE will refer to Chaz as ‘he,’ even when
referring to past events, to reflect what Bono considers his true
gender.)

Journalists don’t have to oppose transsexuality to be accurate (and
there wasn’t even a hint of opposition to the decisions of "Chaz" in
the People article). But accuracy should require that females be
described as female.

The "he" and "his" pronouns weren’t in the headline or beginning of
the article, no doubt out of concern of confusing the reader. The
headline was "Becoming Chaz: With her family’s support, Sonny and
Cher’s daughter reveals she is transgender and living as a man."

The article began: "The images are iconic TV moments: Precious little
Chastity Bono, with her blonde hair and chubby cheeks, gracing her
parents 1970s variety show The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour..."

People insisted that some of Bono’s relatives still need to adjust to
the times. Cher’s mother told a newspaper, "Whatever way she goes is
fine with me....I love her and I’m behind her."

The story included instructional quotes from Masen Davis of San
Francisco’s Transgender Law Center and Shannon Price Minter, legal
director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, "who is
transgender." It ended with supporters praising her "gigantic step"
that would be "fantastic."

This kind of journalism is supposed to demonstrate sympathy and
solidarity rather than accuracy or balance.

—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.


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