The New York Times rarely quotes transgender people in trans stories

The debate over how The New York Times covers transgender people is intensifying again, this time around a basic journalistic question: Who gets quoted when stories are about them?

A new analysis published by Assigned Media found that while the Times produced more transgender-related coverage than any other outlet examined, it was the least likely to quote transgender people or trans advocacy organizations in stories primarily focused on transgender issues.

The report reviewed articles published between January 1 and April 25 across 10 major news outlets. According to the analysis, the Times published 60 news stories centered mainly on transgender issues during that period. Only 12 included quotes from transgender people or advocacy representatives, a rate of 20 percent.

Related: New York Times continues to fail on trans issues one year after demands made

Related: A mom asked the NYT publisher about harm from trans coverage. He defended the process instead

Assigned Media compared that with higher rates at outlets including NPR, NBC News, The Associated Press, and The 19th.

Last week, The Advocate reported that the parent of a transgender teenager confronted Times leadership during the company’s annual shareholder meeting, asking what responsibility the paper bears when its reporting is cited to support laws and policies targeting transgender people.

“This reporting is deeply concerning to me as the mom of a trans teen,” the parent said during the meeting.

Publisher A.G. Sulzberger defended the paper’s journalism, saying newsroom leaders had engaged extensively with critics and concluded the coverage “has indeed been fair and comprehensive.” He described the reporting as “rigorously reported and edited” and “respectful of the people we’re covering.”

But advocacy organizations say the new sourcing analysis reinforces longstanding concerns that transgender people are too often treated as subjects of debate rather than participants in it.

GLAAD said the findings are consistent with years of criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates and media watchdogs.

“Assigned Media’s research is consistent with documentation from GLAAD, Media Matters, FAIR, and other media monitors about the New York Times’ problematic coverage of transgender people,” a GLAAD spokesperson said in a statement to The Advocate. “It is inaccurate for the Times to claim that coverage is ‘fair’ or ‘accurate’ or ‘empathetic’ when its stories about transgender people do not include transgender voices. This defies common sense and journalistic integrity.”

The organization accused the Times of quoting activists and organizations that promote what GLAAD described as anti-trans pseudoscience and conspiracy theories without adequately contextualizing their records or ideological agendas. GLAAD also argued the paper has failed to fully report on how Times coverage has been cited by the Trump administration and in court fights over transgender rights.

Related: New York Times fails to include trans voices in coverage, say GLAAD, Media Matters

Related: Instead of reporting on actual news, the New York Times goes after trans people again

“The Times has also never reported on how its inaccurate coverage is being cited by the Trump administration and at the Supreme Court to justify eroding civil and human rights,” the spokesperson said.

The statement pointed specifically to cases in which Times reporting has appeared in legal arguments challenging gender-affirming care, including litigation surrounding Tennessee’s ban on care for transgender minors. Critics have argued that indicating that medical consensus around transgender health care is unsettled lends legitimacy to political efforts restricting care, despite support for gender-affirming care from major U.S. medical organizations.

Related: New York Times Decries Contributors Protesting Its Trans Coverage

Related: Debunked: This misleading NYT anti-trans column relies on pseudoscience

GLAAD also criticized the paper for what it described as a failure to sufficiently cover research supporting gender-affirming care for transgender youth while amplifying what the group called a manufactured controversy around established medical treatment.

The organization said transgender people, families, researchers, medical providers, Times contributors, and more than 100 advocacy organizations have repeatedly urged the paper to reevaluate its approach.

In 2023, more than 1,200 New York Times contributors signed an open letter accusing the paper of “editorial bias” in its coverage of transgender people and criticizing what they described as the newspaper’s repeated amplification of “pseudoscience and euphemistic, charged language” in stories about gender-affirming care and trans youth. The signatories argued that The Times reporting had been cited in legal and legislative efforts restricting transgender rights and health care access.

“It is past time for the Times to align its practices with the integrity it claims to have,” the GLAAD spokesperson said.

The New York Times did not respond to The Advocate’s request for comment.