The story could have written about all or any of this. Instead, it details what she was wearing and lists old petty “crimes” (she squirted Mace at a man on a bus, she was charged with carrying hormones—which the story terms “dangerous drugs” instead of explaining that hormones are how transgender people align their physical selves with their inborn gender identities). Including her thin criminal record is inappropriate and offensive. As GLAAD’s Aaron McQuade said in a statement, “Acoff’s criminal record is almost certainly irrelevant to the story, especially when provided without any context concerning the trans community and law enforcement.”
The Plain Dealer was not the only outlet that erred in its coverage of Acoff’s death. Fox8 covered the story similarly, identifying her as a man, describing what she was wearing and using a mugshot. The CBS affiliate 19 Action News reported that the transgender community gathered to address the murder—and then referred to Cemia as Carl and called her part of the “transgender/transvestite community.” No. Cemia Acoff identified as a woman, so she was a transgender woman. Calling her a transvestite—an outdated term for a cross-dresser, which a transgender woman is not—is offensive.
These stories show a disheartening lack of understanding of the struggles of the transgender community. It is up to reporters covering a murder of a transgender person to educate themselves, at the minimum by reading GLAAD’s media reference guide, the NLGJA Stylebook, or by putting in a quick call to the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Transgender people are victimized enough without the press piling on. The Cleveland Plain Dealer owes the transgender community an apology. But more than that, it owes the public a series that explores the ferocious struggles transgender people face every day just to be treated like human beings.
what exactly did the papers write that was incorrect? didn't he have a penis? so he should be referenced as a male.
#1 Posted by bob ward, CJR on Fri 3 May 2013 at 11:56 PM
Thank you for such a thoughtfully written, intelligent article. It would seem like this would all just be common sense, but sadly, it is not.
#2 Posted by Christine in Ohio, CJR on Sat 4 May 2013 at 11:31 AM
@Bob, I'm going to assume this is ignorance on your part and that you don't mean to be so brutally insensitive.
No, she should not be described as male simply because of her anatomy. If you had read this article, you should have noticed that quote from the Associated Press stylebook. She identified as female, and the AP recgonizes that this is how she should be addressed, as a part of basic human courtesy and respect.
Gender is different from sex, and is not defined by anatomy. Gender is how one identifies as male or female (or neither, or both). The ignorance of this fact, combined with a fear of the unfamiliar, is what leads to this kind of brutality and disrespect for the life of another human being.
Because you can't even begin to understand what it's like to feel like a stranger in your own body, I would suggest you refrain from making insensitive comments about the people that live with that feeling every day.
#3 Posted by Gabriel, CJR on Sun 5 May 2013 at 12:17 PM
Touché Gabriel!!!!!
#4 Posted by Michele Orges, CJR on Sun 5 May 2013 at 06:32 PM
@Gabriel and Michelle, I'm going to assume this is ignorance on your part but somebody with a penis is usually referred to as male, and gender roles are invented by society and not by what individuals think about themselves. I suggest that you exercise social responsibility and refrain from tossing insults at someone who just schooled you and this article's author as bob ward did. Thanks, bob ward!
#5 Posted by Tang, CJR on Sun 5 May 2013 at 09:11 PM
Tang and Bob Ward both need to be schooled in reading comprehension as well as required to take sensitivity training.
#6 Posted by Swift Loris, CJR on Mon 6 May 2013 at 01:35 AM
Gosh, more politically correct nonsense from CJR. If the dude has male body parts, he's a dude who prefers to be called a woman. So, since it's a tragic story of a slaying, you use sensitivity, but you DO NOT LIE. The victim, who preferred the name Ce Ce, was a male age XXX.
#7 Posted by Dan Gainor, CJR on Mon 6 May 2013 at 06:13 AM
The comments here are further proof that American society has a long way to go in getting a CLUE about transgender people. And complaints about this article being "PC nonsense"? Please. It's called not being an *sshole, folks.
#8 Posted by Wendy D, CJR on Mon 6 May 2013 at 10:32 AM
Wendy, journalists aren't supposed to make up the facts. They are supposed to verify them. If a guy tells reporters he's an alien but has no proof, he doesn't get to say so just because that's how he is dressed.
#9 Posted by Dan Gainor, CJR on Mon 6 May 2013 at 11:29 AM
No, she should not be described as male simply because of her anatomy. If you had read this article, you should have noticed that quote from the Associated Press stylebook. She identified as female, and the AP recgonizes that this is how she should be addressed, as a part of basic human courtesy and respect.
So if I identify as a Glaxon, the chief patriarch of Ceti Alpha IV, that’s how I should be referred to by the AP?
Acoff was born a man, has the anatomy of a man, the chromosomes of a man .. therefore he is a man and no amount of AP stylizing is going to change that.
#10 Posted by Mike H, CJR on Thu 9 May 2013 at 09:52 AM
I don't see a problem with the article, as the terminology used respects both views - Ce Ce was identified as a transgender woman. That already indicates she was not born as a woman, which is basically all the public needs to know about her sex. Furthermore, it gives you a lot of information about her psyche - she feels herself to be a woman -all day, every day. Identifying her as male who was dressed as a woman will not achieve this, nor will talking about her as 'transvestite' - it implies a different mindset and behaviour, unless you qualify it further, which takes more time, and more words. In a newspaper article about her murder, this means the focus shifts to why she wanted to 'dress up' and bring up questions about how often and in what circumstances she did that. With those two words 'transgender woman', you explain all of it, and can move on to the actual news. By using 'she' instead of 'he' in the rest of the article, you show to respect her choice, while calling her 'him' would cause further confusion and hurt her loved ones. Those demanding that newspapers be clear about her sex - they are, you just missed it.
#11 Posted by EInder, CJR on Thu 9 May 2013 at 10:28 AM
Bob, with all due respect, you're simply uninformed on what it means to be transgender (google/wikipedia it) and what constitutes gender in most states. Definitions of gender have expanded since 40 years ago. Gender identity (brain) trumps physical sex (genitalia) in the eyes of the law in most states. Depending on the jurisdiction, one can get legal recognition (e.g. drivers license, passport, & sometimes birth certificate) to reflect gender identity without genital surgery. Many meet with a gender specialist, are diagnosed with gender dysphoria, & live full-time as gender they identify with. Many undergo hormone therapy only & never undergo “gender affirming surgery” (a.k.a. sex reassignment surgery) for various reasons: not needed, not wanted, can't afford it, medically ill-advised, or the available outcomes are not desired. Just because someone can’t afford the legal name change or necessary medical visits doesn’t mean they don’t deserve the same respect as economically better off transgender people.
#12 Posted by Elle SG, CJR on Sat 11 May 2013 at 09:08 PM
Elnder, hear hear. Thank you well said.
#13 Posted by Elle SG, CJR on Sat 11 May 2013 at 09:17 PM
What happened to Miss Cemia Acoff is reprehensible and ethically void of respect for life. To the people who commented on depicting gender as a binomial dichotomy, you are mistaken, for nature does not exhibit this in its diversity. It is society's imposition to recognize our genders this way, when in FACT this is not reflective of the complexity of phenotypic (what your genes physically express) and genotypic (what is the inherent code for all life)-- that is why we have different colors of eyes, skin etc which can change as we evolve. Chromosomes does not dictate our gender, there are not only XX, XY but XXY, XYY and variablility on XX and XY's.
It is one thing to be ignorant and not truly know what transgender people go through to simply be who they were born to be-- maybe people who are insensitive may not want to try to understand or not change, which then get you closer to stupidity because you have a chance to improve your knowledge. Simple respect, respect for human life in all its forms, should at least call on your humanity to say-- no one deserves to die in such a brutal and heinous way.
Rest in Peace-- sister, daughter and niece, Cemia Acoff.
#14 Posted by Janelle , CJR on Mon 13 May 2013 at 12:45 PM