teeline
a guide to reporting on gender minorities in the Singaporean context
A transgender pride flag is waved during Pink Dot 2022. (Tey Liang Jin/Pink Dot)
Hello! Welcome, to this guide to reporting on gender minorities in the Singaporean context.
I’ve worked in newsrooms — both global and domestic, small and big — for about eight years or so, spending the last two of those years as a trans person. Until fairly recently, however, trans people have not been seen prominently in our local media landscape.
An explanation on the name — teeline referred to a shorthand system that was widely required in the Straits Times newsroom up until recently. It’s also the name we used when we started a small social group with transgender Singaporean journalists. If you’re trans, based in Singapore (or are a Singaporean) and a journalist, feel free to reach out!
Either way — I felt compelled to offer a small guide on how to cover gender minorities, in the Singaporean context.
Our mainstream media environment isn’t the most liberal, but the concept of being a transgender person (on either side of the binary) is well understood, at least; being non-binary is newer, but as AP and other wire news agencies move toward codifying acceptance in their style guides and as more trans people and trans Singaporeans become hypervisible in the media, there should be some standard or guide somewhere.
Naturally, these tips do not represent views from any employer (past or present) that I have worked with. Please do not say “Ellis said this!” The first thing your editor will probably ask is — “who the f**k is Ellis?”
At best, this is a comparative essay and guide on how trans issues can be better covered in local media; you can also consider this as a set of tips of sorts. Case in point - if Bertha Henson can set up a graveyard of overly-used journalistic tropes, why can’t I?
How major news wires cover trans issues
These are the most middle ground stands that have a wide appeal to editors in most newsrooms.
From the Reuters style guide. taken in late 2022:
transgender
An umbrella adjective to describe people whose gender identity or expression differs from the sex assigned at birth. A transgender man is somebody who was assigned female at birth and lives as a male. A transgender woman was assigned male at birth and lives as a female. Do not use transgender as a noun; no one should be referred to as “a transgender.”
Always use a transgender person’s chosen name. Do not refer to a transgender person’s previous name, also called deadnaming, unless it is directly relevant to the story or unless the person requests it. Deadnaming is widely considered offensive.
Do not use the word “chosen” to describe a person’s gender identity; do not write “a person’s chosen gender identity.”
We typically only mention that a person is transgender if it is relevant to the story. For example, no need to describe one of three victims of a random car crash as a transgender person.
If you are not sure which gender pronoun to use, ask. If you can’t ask, then use the one that is consistent with the way a person presents herself, himself, or themselves. In some situations confusion may be avoided by not using pronouns. Do not use transgendered.
gender
People generally have a clear sense of their own gender, sometimes called gender identity, which may conflict with their sex at birth. When in doubt, ask people what gender pronouns they prefer. Respect their wishes if they ask not to be identified as either male or female. If it’s not possible to ask their preference, use pronouns that are most consistent with the way they present themselves. Do not use quotation marks around names or pronouns used for transgender or gender-nonconforming people.
The guide widely implies that the use of they/them pronouns are allowed, though the reading of the Reuters style guide regarding this varies.
From the Associated Press style guide, taken in late 2022:
transgender
the adjective transgender describes people whose gender does not match the one usually associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Identify people as transgender only when relevant, and use the name by which they live publicly.
Unless it is central to the story, avoid mention of a person’s gender transition or gender-confirmation surgery in news coverage, which can be intrusive and insensitive.
Avoid references to a transgender person being born a boy or girl, or phrasing like birth gender. Sex (or gender) assigned at birth is the accurate terminology. The shorthand trans is acceptable on second reference and in headlines. Do not use the outdated term transsexual unless a source specifically asks to be identified as such.
Refer to a transgender person’s previous name, also called a deadname, only in the rare instance it is relevant to the story.
Deadnaming refers to a practice, widely considered insensitive, offensive or damaging, of referring to transgender people who have changed their name by the name they used before their transition. Use a person’s previous name very rarely and only if required to understand the news, or if requested by the person.
The issue of deadnaming often arises when public figures announce a gender transition. In such cases, generally use the deadname only once and not in the opening paragraph, with future coverage using only the new name.
When naming suspects or victims in stories about crimes or accidents, be cognizant that authorities or family members may be ignorant of or be disregarding the person’s wishes; when possible, take into account information given by the person or by current friends or others who may have better information about how the person lived and identified.
gender
gender refers to internal and social identity and often corresponds with but is not synonymous with sex. Experts say gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure consisting of only males and females, that can vary by society and change over time.
Sex refers to biological characteristics, such as chromosomes, hormones and reproductive anatomy, which can also vary or change in understanding over time, or be medically and legally altered.
Since not all people fall under one of two categories for sex or gender — as in the cases of non-binary and intersex people — avoid references to both, either or opposite sexes or genders.
Relatedly, not all people use gendered pronouns such as his or hers. Such pronouns are often an example of gender expression, but they do not always align with typical or stereotypical expectations of gender and are not certain indicators of someone’s gender identity.
With regards to deadnaming, for instance — journalists can take a further step; we can choose to just simply identify someone by what they are famous for. A few example lines of reporting with Elliot Page’s transition announcement:
Elliot Page, Oscar-nominated star of “Juno” and “The Umbrella Academy” said in an Instagram post on Wednesday (December 2) that he was a transgender person.
Page, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 2007 film “Juno”, said...
People know who Elliot Page was in these films; it doesn’t actually matter that the movie credits had another name. This, of course, is contingent on whether the person themselves are willing for you to use their deadname.
There is an argument for clarity, with regards to this - and the jury’s still out, really. It doesn’t help that many of us have complicated relationships with our names. But we should always respect a trans person’s decisions with their name, and opt to refer to them by the name they currently go by.
My personal opinion regarding all this is that there should be an extremely limited number of situations where you can use someone’s deadname:
When you have the person’s permission.
When they were notable before they transitioned, and the article was about their transition and only about their transition. In this case you should also include their new name.
If they are only notable because they transitioned (see Elon Musk’s trans daughter), publishing their deadname makes no sense as the average reader wouldn’t recognise it or need to recognise a change.
Avoid “X, formerly Twitter” situations: if a notable figure transitioned and you or the outlet you’ve written for has already written about that, there is no longer a need to use their deadname anywhere else. Your readers should be intelligent enough to look them up. (Widely used social media platforms aren’t people, however.)
If they were unable to change their legal name (for various reasons) and had been charged in court and you are required to maintain some level of accuracy as a court reporter. It may help if this person uses their chosen name in court; you can use their birth or legal name on first mention, and then use their chosen name after.
There are a number of edge cases, like if a notable figure had a transgender or cross-gender persona they kept hidden intentionally (see LillyAnarKitty) and that was only discovered after death. In that case, consider if it is pivotal to the story, and defer to close friends or relatives who knew this person’s transgender or cross-gender persona on this issue.
Always use someone’s chosen name in any other situation.
The word transgender on an old 2009 AP stylebook.
Non-binary pronouns
Many local newsrooms don’t accept non-binary pronouns like they/them, and will often opt to not pronoun a non-binary person because it is not in line with style. When that happens — have your second, third and fourth references ready. Take for example the Straits Times covering Neon Yang making Time’s list of the 100 best fantasy titles of all time:
Yang welcomed the diversity of the Time list and its attempt to redefine the literary canon. "I think we're beginning to move away from traditional ideas of who can succeed as a fantasy writer."
The 37-year-old added: "The Black Tides Of Heaven was a deeply personal book for me, encapsulating a lot of my feelings about gender and defying the expectations that our elders place upon us.
"To have it named on a list of the greatest fantasy books of all time, which includes books I grew up with and books that inspired me to become a writer in the first place - it means more than I could possibly say."
The Straits Times does not use honorifics for artists, and also does not include they/them in their housestyle.
If you don’t know what pronouns your newsmaker uses, ask! It should be a habit you cultivate as a young journalist: How should I spell your name? How old are you? What are your pronouns?
Same goes with honorifics. In order to keep things from feeling like it’s offensive (some men will balk at the idea that you’re referring to them as a girl), ask your question in an open-ended way. How may I address you? Should I call you Mr., or…
Additionally, don’t only ask people who simply look gender non-conforming their pronouns. Introduce yourself, and tell them your pronouns first. Or, say “I want to get this right. How can I spell your name, and can I have your pronouns?”
Your newsmaker may also use neopronouns. It is ideal to adhere to their desire for neopronouns, but if that’s not possible or if they are not in line with style, inform the newsmaker that you will not use pronouns for them in the piece. Most neopronoun users are fine with using they/them as well; as usual, ask!
Naturally, do not abandon a newsmaker just because their pronouns don’t fit style. It’s weird and rude and a waste of time and effort.
Generally no hyphen, yes. It’s not trans-gender, or transgendered, or a transgender. Neither should it be transgenderism. That’s just bad English. From a TODAY style book in 2013.
Do's and don’ts
Here’s an incomplete list of do’s and don’ts:
1) Don’t take the authorities’ word at face value.
There’s a pretty simple reason for this — the authorities are compelled to give you a name or gender that is legally associated with this person. The process to change one’s gender marker in Singapore requires expensive and costly bottom surgery, and it is not immediately accessible to all trans people in general.
If the person is a trans woman and clearly presents that way, but authorities say “the male individual” and uses he/him to refer to them, following the authorities would be at best inaccurate and at most very offensive. Misgendering a newsmaker is inaccurate as it does not tell the full story.
The Straits Times’ coverage of the #FixSchoolsNotStudents saga and MOE’s resultant statement is precedent — there is no need for you to follow the authorities when it comes to reporting about a newsmaker’s legal gender.
You can state that the authorities referred to the newsmaker by their legal gender and quote authorities in context:
Transgender individuals identify with a gender that does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender dysphoria refers to the psychological distress that results from this mismatch between one's sense of self and body.
Referring to the student with the male pronoun, the MOE said: "We invite the student to approach the school to clarify and discuss how the school can support (her) schooling better.”
[…]
Speaking to The Straits Times, the student said she was first diagnosed with gender dysphoria in early 2019, before she entered her current school.
In March last year, she obtained a memo from her doctor stating her diagnosis and handed it to her current school.
(NOTE: I edited the pronouns on the statement; you can also opt to do so in official statements to provide clarity so readers understand that you’re referring to the same person)
If you’re doing court reporting (where accuracy in terms of legality matters) you can opt not to pronoun a person. An example is this TODAY piece about a trans woman accused of making a false police report.
An example of what not to do can also be seen here, in this piece about a trans woman who pleaded guilty for cheating. (Cautions for misgendering follow.) Some countries do not allow people to change their name (let alone their gender identity markers, in this case) - and it might not be immediately clear to you that this person is transgender.
You can choose not to pronoun or gender the person once it is clear that this person is transgender, especially in court, when documents are submitted to prove that this person has gone through gender reassignment. [Some countries and states do not permit a gender marker change even with surgery.]
2) If it isn’t necessary, don’t mention that someone is transgender.
Two egregious examples on this can be found here and here — the first article by the Straits Times describes an act of robbery in Bangkok by a transgender person, while the second article by Mothership.sg attempts to sensationalise an attempt by a sex worker in Hong Kong to escape the authorities.
Both pieces stemmed from reports off viral social media posts. In the first, we find the words:
Further investigations found that the transgender person, a man who now identifies as a woman, was a 36-year-old illegal immigrant from Cambodia who went by the name Kinkon.
You may know from years of newsroom experience that oddity is a news value — but I would hesitate to argue in favour of reporting about trans people as though we are an oddity. Reporting about minorities like they are odd can be downright offensive, and in this instance, the encapsulation of “transgender person” as “a man who now identifies as a woman” is wrong and arguably even inaccurate.
The same here with the Mothership.sg piece, which is wrong right off the bat with its headline. It readily misgenders the sex worker attempting to escape from the authorities in its translation of both 8World and HK01’s reports, which sensationalises a vulnerable moment,
Both pieces could have opted not to mention that the people involved are transgender (or in the case of the Mothership.sg piece, an “alleged crossdresser”).
If you’re assigned a news story like this, ask yourself — is it actually necessary to mention that the person involved is trans? Is the fact that the person is trans integral to the story? If it isn’t, there is absolutely no need to mention that someone is transgender.
3) Do ask, ask, and ask!
Make it a habit to ask and verify. Of course, do it with tact — in an environment where people may look both cis-passing and gender non-conforming at the same time, don’t merely ask the gender non-conforming person their pronouns.
As I mention above — it should be a habit you use when you interview your newsmakers. How do I spell your name? How old are you? What are your pronouns?
If you can’t reach the newsmaker in exigent circumstances — say, if they’re in the hospital — and the sources around this person use the wrong name or wrong pronouns, you can check how they referred to themselves in past social media posts.
Naturally, there are grey areas here: some trans people may be comfortable with using pronouns associated with the gender assigned to them at birth, or the names given to them at birth. Again, if you’re not sure, ask.
4) Do ask yourself: if you were writing this story about virtually any other group, would it sound horrible?
The Singaporean education system seems to bring forth the mirage that discrimination is wholly non-existent in our society, something that can be best described as a pipe dream; latent biases exist, and these biases are one of the first few things a journalist should be aware of when they first enter a newsroom environment.
Think: if you substitute “transgender people” with another group, say, Chinese people, or Buddhists — would this story sound off?
5) Don’t print inaccurate information just because you need to cover both sides.
Many issues in the transgender community remain subject to discussion; trans people in sport, trans and gender non-binary youth, etc. If you’re quoting people who say they want to protect youth (or sport), make sure that their claims are accurate, and that you’re not printing unchallenged misinformation and helping these folk project their stereotypes.
Do your research on a particular issue or topic and speak with people. At times, activists may cite “experts” like Quentin Van Meter or unnamed studies to advance claims of “gender confusion”. Always check your sources; some groups have names that sound legitimate (like the American College of Pediatricians — wholly different from the American Academy of Pediatrics) in order to market and whitewash their agenda.
Center trans people in your research, if you can. I will always be available through email if you wish to speak with someone about this.
6) Don’t frame your story solely through the lens of cisgender people
If your story is about trans people and trans community, avoid framing this story solely through the eyes of cisgender folk. Take for instance the following (hypothetical) story ideas:
A rise in transgender people using Grindr and Her for hook-ups
Naturally, in a piece like this, don’t center your story on cisgender folk who use these apps. You could discuss, perhaps, why trans people use these apps, and if they face any issues using them.
Of course, don’t center voices from cis gay/lesbian folk who think this rise is an intrusion into their space. (Why don’t they use their own app? for instance.)
MOE bans trans students from using their chosen names and pronouns
In a piece like this, ask yourself who will be impacted the most — trans students. If you can’t speak with minors, you can speak with adults who can discuss their experiences as students.
7) Do contextualise and summarise nuance.
Our existence straddles the medical, social and political.
Some may argue that transition and gender-affirming care are not based in evidence (not true); some may argue trans women should be kept out of women-only spaces because they “were men” (discriminatory); some may argue that people may use self-identification laws to try to commit crime (lacks evidence).
If by some chance you end up having to cover this debate — challenge the views of each side as far as possible. Contextualise these issues in their social, political (and medical) contexts; a conservative ideology (in some political parties) will mean that politicians may lean towards making anti-trans decisions or erase trans youth.
8) Don’t use slurs.
This has happened, especially in Chinese-language media: in particular, Shin Min recently used a slur to describe transgender sex workers during a recent vice bust.
I don’t know why you’d use slurs, and what professional explanation you would have in using slurs in the headline. But in case you don’t get it yet:
Slurs are incredibly dehumanising. The Chinese slur for transgender folk — 人妖 — describe us as literal demons. While this was mainly used to describe transgender and gender non-conforming people from Thailand as a form of exoticisation, it has been used largely to dehumanise transgender people, especially transgender sex workers.
Other terms — like 伪娘 (translit. fake lady) — are equally dehumanising and hold no editorial value; they only serve to debase the publication that you work for and its reputation.
For a list of local LGBTQ slang and whether you should include it in your reporting, click here.