Fox News Fail! Report Says Not 1 Transgender Guest in 9 Months of Trans Coverage

An independent review of Fox News over nine months reveals the number one rated cable news network did not invite a single openly transgender person to appear as a guest to discuss transgender issues.

The report was compiled by the nonprofit news watchdog Media Matters. The organization's website makes no bones about its mission, declaring it is "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media."

Fox News Channel aired 44 news alerts and 27 segments focusing on transgender issues between September 1, 2014, and June 1, 2015, according to the Media Matters report. But in all that coverage on Rupert Murdoch's crown jewel, the researchers could find only two news alerts that included commentary from a person openly identified as transgender.

And what's perhaps most alarming, is that the commentary in those two news alerts on April 4 lasted no more than nine seconds, and was a recorded sound bite from just one person: Kris Hayashi, executive director of the Transgender Law Center, an out trans man.

That's not to say Fox News Channel didn't bring in guests or cover trans issues. According to Media Matters, the conservative-leaning cable news channel presented 27 segments in that nine month period featuring at least two guests each.

Trending stories

VIDEO: A man living with HIV discusses his journey to fatherhood

Electric Forest is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community

Out and About with Christian Cooper

This HIV Long-Term Survivor Day, listen to this leader from God's Love, We Deliver

BenDeLaCreme reveals if she'd like to return to 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'

‘Dragula’ star Dollya Black comes out as trans and embraces trans joy

Checking out: nhow London, the city’s coolest hotel

Gays went feral at an iconic Pride celebration in Pensacola, Florida

1985: the year the AIDS crisis finally broke through the silence

Grindr workers pushed out are fighting to get their jobs back

Wilderness, woods, and Wigstock: Drag icons light up the Catskills

BREAKING: Supreme Court rules to save free access to preventive care, including PrEP

'King of Drag's Buck Wylde reveals their master plan for kings to reign over the scene (exclusive)

Joe Biden has tied the record for most LGBTQ+ judges confirmed in federal courts

David Archuleta on loving sexy crop tops & the skin he's in

Ranking the 15 best lesbian and sapphic coming-of-age movies ever

Meet Out's Most Eligible Bachelorettes of 2025

All 6 rogue Mississippi cops got long prison sentences in 'Goon Squad' torture of 2 Black men

53 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads the gays won't forget

Elon Musk uses burner accounts on X, doesn’t fact-check: report

Sasha Velour revives Alexander Velvet to honor 'King of Drag' series

Trump admin guts $258 million in funding for HIV vaccine research

France becomes world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

BREAKING: The WNBA announces expansion teams in these three cities

How climate disasters hurt mental health in young people

• 0
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8

And not one was transgender.

The Advocate has reported time and time again how problematic Fox News coverage has been, such as resident transphobic psychologist Keith Ablow's fearmongering and anchors using malicious terms such as "gender-bender."

In its methodology disclaimer, Media Matters made it clear that it counted both live and recorded guest interviews and that its researchers "tracked all segments focusing on transgender issues that included commentary from at least one guest who wasn't the show's host or anchor," according to the report.

"Network reporters and correspondents providing news updates or packaged reports were not counted as guests," the report said, nor were reruns, teases, or programs seen after midnight but before the beginning of the Fox News Channel's morning shows, including Fox and Friends.

According to Media Matters, its research team utilized IQMedia and Nexis to search transcripts of programs for the following words and terms:

"transgender!," "gender identity," "sex change," "cross-dress!," "transsexual!," "gender neutral," "genderless," "male-to-female," "female-to-male," "male to female," "female to male," "Manning," and "Jenner."

An email from The Advocate requesting a comment from Fox News was not immediately answered.