A collection curated by The Open Notebook and the Trans Journalists Association
Many of the issues that affect transgender people—such as gender-affirming medical care, educational policy, sports participation, military service, gender-motivated hate crime, and workplace discrimination—involve scientific evidence, context, and data. These same issues also tend to be politicized and mired in misinformation.
Journalists covering transgender communities have a responsibility to ensure their reporting reflects the weight of scientific evidence, includes the perspectives of trustworthy experts, and interrogates claims made by public officials. On this page, you’ll find advice gathered by the Trans Journalists Association (TJA) and The Open Notebook for covering trans issues that have science at their core.
TJA Resources for Grounding Stories in Scientific Evidence
Covering Executive Orders that Target Trans Americans
Best practices and key questions to ask when reporting on anti-trans executive orders in the U.S.
Reporting on the Role of International Politics in Trans Health Care
This resource hub features two coverage briefs:
- A primer on how trans health care policy differs between the U.S. and Europe
- Reporting best practices for comparing U.S. and European gender care policies
What Journalists Should Know about the U.S. v. Skrmetti U.S. Supreme Court Case
Reporting advice and context on the U.S. v. Skrmetti Supreme Court case, which ultimately upheld a Tennessee law banning certain medical care for trans youth. (This guide was released before the Supreme Court’s landmark, anti-trans decision.)
Understanding the Reports on Health Care for Trans Youth
Released after oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, this resource provides additional context to help journalists grasp the nuances in complex reports on trans health care.
How to Report on Polls about Trans Issues
Learn what polls can and can’t reveal and how to cover polling on trans issues with accuracy.
What’s Fair? What Journalists Can Learn from the Olympic Boxing Controversy
Understand how reporting missteps in 2024 news stories about women’s Olympic boxing exposed long-held assumptions many in the journalism industry hold about gender, sports, and fairness.
Highlights from the TJA Stylebook and Coverage Guide
- Health Care
- Sports
- Politicized or Inaccurate Phrases
- Glossary (with helpful health and science terminology)
Other Useful Resources
Centering and Understanding the Experiences of Trans People
- Trans People in the U.S.: Identities, Demographics, and Wellbeing (KFF)
- KFF / The Washington Post Trans Survey
- Read The Open Notebook’s interview with the reporters behind the survey
- Transgender People (The Williams Institute)
- Born This Way? Born Which Way? (The New York Times)
- Covering the Intersex Community (interAct Advocates for Intersex Youth)
- TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones (TransLash Media)
- Sex Redefined: The Idea of 2 Sexes Is Overly Simplistic (Republished in Scientific American/Originally published in Nature)
- Born This Way: Science, Citizenship, and Inequality in the American LGBTQ+ Movement (by Joanna Wuest)
- 7 Tips for Data-Driven Journalism about LGBTQ+ Communities (Source)
Health Care
- The 19th Explains: Everything you need to know about gender-affirming care (The 19th)
- Falsehoods About Transgender People and Gender Affirming Care (KFF)
- How Common Is Transgender Treatment Regret, Detransitioning? (Associated Press)
- Gender-Affirming Care Has a Long History in the U.S.—and Not Just for Transgender People (The Conversation)
- Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth: Separating Medical Facts from Misinformation (CBS News)
- Health Care Could Get More Expensive for Transgender People Under a New Trump Rule (The 19th)
- Health Care Access and Financial Barriers Among LGBT People Amidst Looming Health Care Cuts (KFF)
Sports
- Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates (by Katie Barnes)
- How Olympic Officials First Drew Gender Lines (Foreign Policy)
- A Timeline of Sex Testing in Sports (Tested podcast)
- Strength, Power and Aerobic Capacity of Transgender Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Study (British Journal of Sports Medicine)
- The Impact of Transgender Sports Participation Bans on Transgender People in the U.S. (The Williams Institute)
- Trans Athletes Speak Out (TransLash Media)
