(Republicaninformer.com)- Once it became public knowledge on Monday that the gunman who murdered three children and three adults was transgender, mainstream media outlets fumbled with the name and pronouns of the perpetrator.
Authorities later named transgender woman Audrey Hale, 28, as the shooter, despite her being first described as a woman he used male pronouns to describe herself.
Even though CNN changed the piece so that the term “woman” no longer appeared, no mention was made of the shooter’s transgender identification.
After USA Today’s tweet that the shooter was a woman, several news outlets did the same. Many media sites are avoiding any mention of Hale’s gender, even though she was first referred to in headlines, reports, and tweets as a female.
Later on Monday, there was still uncertainty about the shooter’s gender. The New York Times tweeted that “officials had used ‘she’ and ‘her’ to refer to the suspect, although the individual in question seemed to identify as a male in recent months, as shown by a social media post and a LinkedIn page.
Soon after the attack, the New York Times published a story highlighting how uncommon mass shootings by women were.
The perpetrator “was identified by police as a transgender male” on Monday afternoon, the publication said. “Authorities first believed the wrong gender was responsible for the shooting.”
Several media outlets, even those that regularly use transgender peoples’ chosen pronouns, have stopped doing so while referring to Hale.
The Washington Post simply used the shooter’s last name throughout their Monday evening coverage of the shooting rather than using gendered pronouns.
Axios’ Monday morning email also used Hale’s surname or “the gunman” instead of pronouns.
“Gunman” is a masculine word.
This story, as horrific as it is, challenges the style sheets of these once-serious publications, which now look ridiculous as this aspect of the tragedy seems more problematic than the deaths.
