Trans Kids Deserve Better have called out transphobia in the mainstream media
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY TRANS KIDS DESERVE BETTER
Two young activists from the group Trans Kids Deserve Better (TKDB) have made a powerful statement to call out transphobia in the UK media by climbing up The Daily Telegraph offices to display a banner that reads “The Daily SMELLegraph”.
According to TKDB, The Daily Telegraph has published over 150 articles focusing on trans people. The action by these activists aims to expose the way that this rhetoric is directly harming trans people.
In a statement by one of the activists: “Every time I see an article from the Telegraph, my heart sinks. Why would a group of adults dogpile and bully oppressed children who just want to live as their true selves? They write countless articles on us, but do we ever get asked for our input? Of course not.”
They continued: “They don’t see us as human children, just another scapegoat to demonise. Our struggles are just ammunition for their guns. The Telegraph has gone rotten and rancid. It’s time for them to get some fresh air and stop creepily obsessing over the ‘purity’ of children’s bodies.”
TKDB reported that The Daily Telegraph has regularly used language like “woke cult” to report on trans stories. In a press release following the activists’ banner, TKDB pointed out the danger of this narrative in regards to reporting on news such as the UK Supreme Court’s recent ruling about the definition of the term “woman” in the Equality Act.
“The media, and especially the Telegraph ‘uses our existences as clickbait, and creates the false impression that we know nothing of ourselves, and that we are simultaneously victims and perpetrators of the greatest imaginable crime against humanity: living our truths’.”
“They villainise us, scapegoat us, and treat our very existence like society’s greatest threat, despite the fact that it is the same patriarchy that oppresses cisgender women as oppresses our community.”
With young activists scaling buildings just to be seen, many are calling for a change to the way trans stories are being covered by mainstream media. In the words of TKDB: “Trans Kids Deserve Better – from our politicians, from our doctors, and from our press.”
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