Fox News anchor Shannon Bream misgenders trans athlete CeCe Telfer

The practice goes against journalistic standards, the Associated Press Stylebook, and The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage

Written by Brianna January

Published


Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

Fox News anchor Shannon Bream, who the network touts as part of its purported “news”-side team, called transgender athlete CeCe Telfer a “biological male who now identifies as a woman.”

Anti-LGBTQ groups and media often misgender trans people -- the harmful practice of referring to someone as a gender other than the one that a person identifies with -- by using the term “biological male” or “biological female.”

Bream has a history of using anti-trans language and hosting guests who also do so. Bream has misgendered a trans woman in past coverage, mirroring the language of frequent anti-LGBTQ guests from extreme group Alliance Defending Freedom. The practice goes against journalistic standards, the Associated Press Stylebook, and The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage.

From the June 15 edition of Fox News at Night With Shannon Bream:

SHANNON BREAM (HOST): One of the first transgender athletes to be an NCAA champion, national champion in women's track and field, says it's actually her female competitors who have the advantage.

...

CeCe Telfer, a biological male who now identifies as a woman, won the NCAA Division II women's 400-meter hurdles championship last month.