A progress pride flag in front of a purple background with white lineart logos for the Washington Post, LA Times, CNN and MSNBC
Molly Butler / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

A selection of mainstream media Pride Month stories that exemplify what LGBTQ coverage should be year round

While the most dedicated LGBTQ coverage usually proliferates during June, it is crucial for these stories to be told outside of a single month

Special Programs LGBTQ

Written by Vesper Henry

Published

Over the past year mainstream media often failed either to convey the scale of the legislative onslaught against LGBTQ people or to include their perspectives in stories covering the community. Pride Month, however, lent an opportunity for mainstream outlets to shine and exemplify the type of coverage that should be emulated year-round. The following stories stood out for their prominent inclusion of LGBTQ voices, discussion beyond the politicization of trans identity, and avoidance of deadnaming or misgendering, all of which are best practices outlined in the Trans Journalists Association style guide.

  • CNN anchor Victor Blackwell invited two Black LGBTQ activists to discuss the importance of intersectionality in the LGBTQ community. Atlanta Black Pride Weekend organizer Melissa Scott discussed with Blackwell the ways that Black LGBTQ people are often overlooked, especially in health care and fundraising. Global Black Pride founder Micheal Ighodaro also discussed threats to LGBTQ people around the world and the nuances of identity in the U.S. [CNN, First of All with Victor Blackwell, 6/1/24]

  • From the June 1, 2024, edition of CNN's First of All with Victor Blackwell

    VICTOR BLACKWELL (HOST): I don't want people to feel like, as we talk about some of the divisions and some of the splits within the LGBT community, that it is just personal prejudices — you mention the health challenges. I wanted to read this I learned from the CDC: According to the CDC — this is 2021 — Black Americans 13 and older were 12% of the U.S. population but accounted for 40% of people with HIV. Black men who have sex with men represented 2% of the population, but 70% of the new HIV cases, and Black women, the new HIV infections that year, 10 times that of white women, four times that of Latinas. Those, again, domestic numbers. That has to shape the programs, the events, that might be different from the larger Pride.

    MELISSA SCOTT (ATLANTA BLACK PRIDE WEEKEND ORGANIZER): So, those statistics alone tell you exactly why there needs to be a Black Pride versus a Pride. It's unfortunate, a lot of corporations, they fund Pride, right? And so they feel like ‘we funded Pride,' so when we go in as people of color looking for funding that trickles down to the community, and for outreach, it's like ‘we already funded Pride, so you guys should be good.' No! Look at those numbers.

  • Al Sharpton, civil rights activist and MSNBC host, warned that threats to LGBTQ Americans are a threat to all, and cautioned about Project 2025. “We have made progress, but cannot turn a blind eye to the continued struggle the LGBTQ community is facing. Limiting the civil rights of any American weakens the civil rights of every American,” Sharpton said, “[Former President Donald] Trump’s rhetoric only scratches the surface of what the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, plans to do during a second Trump term.” [MSNBC, PoliticsNation, 6/2/24]

  • From the June 2, 2024 edition of MSNBC's PoliticsNation

  • The Los Angeles Times published a series called Our Queerest Century, celebrating historical LGBTQ contributions of the past and assessing the state of modern life. “Our Queerest Century explores these 100 years of history and exceptional contributions by LGBTQ+ people through six personal essays by queer writers and a groundbreaking poll gauging the views of adults in California and throughout the country,” deputy managing editor Maria La Ganga wrote, “In many ways, queer history is California history. And as the largest news organization in California, the Los Angeles Times is uniquely positioned to tell this story.” [Los Angeles Times, 6/6/24]

  • The Washington Post published an obituary to Lynn Conway, a trans woman who pioneered microchip technology. Conway died at 86 on June 9, 2024, in Michigan. University of Michigan professor of computer science Valeria Bertacco told the Post, “My field would not exist without Lynn Conway.” The obituary explicitly avoids deadnaming Conway, alluding only to a “long-discarded birth name” under which she had made many of her early research contributions. The writer never misgenders Conway or shies away from her gender identity at all. The piece also balances discussion of her influence among trans people with her technological innovations, underscoring the significance of her identity without making Conway appear one-dimensional. [The Washington Post, 6/13/24]

  • ACLU Deputy Director of Transgender Justice Chase Strangio joined Ayman Mohyeldin to warn about a MAGA “all out assault on trans life.” Strangio warned that Project 2025 would lead to “trans life being deemed criminal” after Mohyeldin raised concerns over a second Trump administration dashing Medicare and Medicaid funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to youth. [MSNBC, Ayman, 6/16/24]

  • From the June 16, 2024, edition of MSNBC's Ayman

  • Them reporter Samantha Riedel also appeared on Ayman to discuss the rise of right-wing extremism and its link to anti-LGBTQ violence. “We have seen far-right militia groups like the Proud Boys and Patriot Front, they have been mobilizing in greater numbers at Pride events,” Riedel said, “We have also been seeing a lot of younger people who have been successfully propagandized and are also enacting violence against their peers, against other young people.” [MSNBC, Ayman, 6/22/24]

  • From the June 22, 2024, edition of MSNBC'S Ayman

    AYMAN MOHYELDIN (HOST): There is also another scary aspect to this, another side of the coin if you will, and that is on the legislative front. The ACLU is currently tracking 523 piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation around the country. That's one more than we showed on this map just last week, so this number could keep rising. Do you think there is a correlation between this anti-LGBTQ legislation coming from government officials and the threats and vandalism that are coming from the people?

    ...

    SAMANTHA RIEDEL (REPORTER, THEM): I think that there's been a real big push to make these sorts of things, again, into people's political identities in order to shore up support, and we can absolutely draw a correlation between the proliferation of this kind of thing — the idea that it is politically desirable to be anti-queer, to be anti-trans — and these sorts of threats, these sorts of vandalism and damaging incidents. You know, just at the beginning of the month — I didn't even get into this in my article, but the Colorado GOP openly endorsed burning Pride flags, so I think that's about as clear as you can get to linking the political right in the 2020s to exactly this kind of behavior. It's just the mainstream now.

  • On CNN, one of several drag queens lobbying Congress to pass the Equality Act discussed the mounting legal threats to the LGBTQ community. Anchor Sara Sidner asked what a potential second Trump presidency would “mean” for LGBTQ people, citing a June 18 speech in which Trump promised that “on day one” he would sign an executive order to defund schools pushing “transgender insanity.” [CNN, CNN News Central, 6/25/24]

  • From the June 25, 2024, edition of CNN's CNN News Central