Here’s another letter (previous letter) I sent to a media organization — this time the New Jersey Ledger Star — on their coverage of transpeople:

Re: Police charge transsexual with impersonation

Dear editor,

I’ve read a recent article on the NJ.com website by Bill Swayze of the Ledger-Star regarding Kashon Williams’ arrest for alleged impersonation.

I note that Swayze’s article didn’t comply with the AP Stylebook guidelines (Pg 249, 2006 edition) that state regarding the transgender people:

“Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.

“If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.”

I’m going make the assumption that the Ledger-Star’s stylebook probably has similar guidelines regarding transgender people.

Please review the article and consider updating the online version to better align with the AP Stylebook guidelines. Please also consider training your editors to look for offensive pronoun usage when reviewing articles about transgender people.

Best regards,

Autumn Sandeen

Per my normal course of action on these things, I sent a copy of the letter to GLAAD so they can also respond — they got more muscle on these things than I do. 

If you compare the letter above with the previous letter I noted here on this blog, note how the two letters I’ve sent to two different publishers are pretty similar in formating. If one is an activist and reacts the same way to similar incidents, the documentation gets eaiser to generate.