The Daily Northwestern published an op-ed by Kevin Waldman replete with anti-trans bias, transphobic language and misinformation: “The transgender umbrella is failing — it’s time to face the truth” on Feb. 18. As illustrated in Francesca Martinez’s response the following day, Waldman’s claims deriding gender-affirming care for trans youth are not only bigoted but lack substantial factual or scientific basis.

The Daily’s decision to publish a column laden with misinformation and unsubstantiated anti-trans rhetoric is appalling. In addition to inflaming legislative attacks against trans people, it undermines the opinion section’s stated aim to offer a moderated forum for diverse viewpoints.

Sadly, the publication of this op-ed is not an isolated incident — it’s part of an ongoing trend of news outlets across the country platforming baseless anti-trans talking points. Contrary to Waldman’s eyebrow-raising assertion that “No one wants to talk about it, but I will,” Waldman is not a bold innovator, but merely the latest voice in a cacophony of anti-trans rhetoric. And The Daily enabled him to join the chorus.

For the past decade, influential publications in the U.S., including The New York Times, New York Magazine and The Atlantic, have increasingly given space to opinion columnists promoting anti-trans rhetoric. Under the guise of “just asking questions,” cisgender writers voice ideological assumptions about transgender people as neutral facts, artificially inflate extremist viewpoints and cast doubt upon widely supported medical treatment.

Frequently, these writers erase or overlook decades of transgender history and activism. Like Waldman, they frame trans youth as a contemporary phenomenon; in reality, what is modern is the high visibility of transgender children.

Also like Waldman, many columnists state that their concern is aimed at children who claim to be transgender, but probably aren’t — a transphobic and demeaning framing that taps into the widely debunked “social contagion” theory.

Publishing these falsehoods violates basic journalistic principles of truth and accuracy and leads to material threats to trans people nationwide. Anti-trans legislators and opponents of trans equality have capitalized on inaccurate coverage, creating deep and lasting harm to the trans community.

Articles from The New York Times are weaponized in the form of citations in emergency orders, lawsuits and bills attacking transgender rights, often at breathtaking speed. In February 2024 — one year after 1,000 New York Times contributors wrote an open letter expressing “serious concerns about editorial bias in the newspaper’s reporting on transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people” — The New York Times published an opinion column by Pamela Paul entitled “As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do.”

Four days later, the column was cited in a conservative legal brief in Idaho supporting the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth.

So, Waldman’s op-ed is nothing new. By publishing Waldman’s piece, The Daily joins a long list of outlets that amplify anti-trans misinformation at the expense of trans people. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

It’s time for news outlets, from The New York Times to The Daily Northwestern, to stop platforming anti-trans misinformation in any section of the newspaper. These opinion columnists do not offer a “diverse perspective” that must be recognized in discussions about trans healthcare and rights. Rather, they use deceptive framing to peddle misinformation about the trans community, manufacturing consent for anti-trans policies.

I am not here to say The Daily should not publish columns I disagree with — it should. But there is a difference between offering a platform for diverse viewpoints and publishing a pseudoscientific op-ed that fails to meet the basic criteria of truthfulness or accuracy.

Waldman claims that “some teenagers are being prescribed hormones after just a single visit to a gender clinic” and “we must recognize that social contagion plays a significant role” in “the rapid rise in transgender identification among youth.” The Daily then published an LTE the day after Waldman’s that said these claims are false: In her response, Martinez points out that “The myths of ‘social contagion’ and ‘rapid-onset gender dysphoria’ that Waldman repeats have no basis in science and have been thoroughly debunked” and “it is completely false that children are being given hormone treatment after a single clinical visit.”

The Daily must do better than publishing misinformation and leaving it up to other columnists to correct it. Rejecting a trite charlatan thinkpiece on transgender people would not undermine, but validate, the opinion section’s stated mission to fact-check submissions and prioritize fresh perspectives. As a teaching publication for future journalists, The Daily should train students to recognize and reject fraudulent claims and fearmongering — not normalize them.

Until our news outlets — including The Daily — fix their practices, we must continue to be vigilant readers and speak out against anti-trans bias whenever and wherever we see it. If you haven’t already, familiarize yourself with common anti-trans talking points so you can more easily identify them in your media consumption. For example, major red flags in Waldman’s piece include:
He speaks about caring for vulnerable people but uses transphobic, condescending language to describe them.
He purports to make a distinction between real and fake transgender people.
He uses the dog whistle term “social contagion.”
His framing excludes any historical context prior to the 21st century.
He invokes a moral panic about children.

This doesn’t have to be a solo endeavor. If you read a piece about trans people that strikes you as odd but can’t put a finger on why, ask your friends to help you identify what’s wrong. Moreover, ensure you’re not stuck in a loop of anti-trans rhetoric and its subsequent debunking. Follow trans writers producing stories about trans people.

Dusty Brandt Howard, Torrey Peters and Shon Faye are just a few of the voices I’ve been tuning into lately. And for my trans friends: Keep loving each other fiercely. Be so T4T. No matter how the media distorts our stories, we will use our voices to cherish and sustain one another.

Henry Roach is a Medill alum and a former Daily staffer. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.