A new report from GLAAD reveals that while major media outlets are publicizing President Donald Trump’s anti-trans executive orders, they are failing to include transgender voices and counter misinformation in their coverage. The analysis, which examined 35 first-day stories from six major news organizations, found that most outlets neglected to feature trans perspectives or provide necessary factual context to challenge the administration’s rhetoric.
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The findings highlight a troubling trend. Out of 35 articles covering Trump’s executive orders, only 13 included a quote from a transgender person. Of those, the study finds that just six provided facts and context to counter misleading claims from the administration. Seventeen of the 22 stories that did not include a transgender voice also failed to quote any LGBTQ+ advocate or group.
Related: Donald Trump has begun eroding federal LGBTQ+ protections through executive orders
“Transgender Americans are clearly under assault by the Trump administration, including unprecedented attempts to erase and dehumanize,” GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “It is imperative that media covering the administration’s efforts to exclude transgender people report on this pattern of inaccurate, animus-filled behavior, and include the voices of transgender people and facts about lives and experiences.”
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GLAAD evaluated ABC News, the Associated Press, CBS News, NBC News, Reuters, and USA Today coverage. Some outlets performed better than others, but the overall trend showed that too many stories about policies affecting transgender people failed to include trans voices. According to the report, ABC News included transgender voices in three of its five stories. The Associated Press featured transgender sources in two of five stories, with one including multiple trans voices. CBS News cited transgender individuals in two of five stories. NBC News included trans voices in three of five reports. Reuters quoted a transgender person in just one of its five stories. USA Today included transgender sources in two of five stories.
Related: Donald Trump to target transgender rights & diversity with dozens of ‘Day One’ executive orders
The report also identified a pattern of unchallenged misinformation. According to GLAAD, a Reuters article about Trump’s “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism” executive order included a quote from an LGBTQ+ advocacy leader but failed to challenge the administration’s use of the term “gender ideology,” a phrase weaponized by anti-trans extremists to dehumanize transgender people. Similarly, a USA Today article on Trump’s executive order “recognizing two sexes” did not include an LGBTQ+ voice or an expert in science or medicine to push back against the administration’s misleading claims, GLAAD notes. Instead, the article quoted an unnamed “incoming White House official” and a “Trump staffer” who amplified inaccurate, baseless rhetoric without scrutiny.
GLAAD’s director of communications and transgender advocacy, Shane Diamond, emphasized the critical role media plays in shaping public understanding of trans issues, particularly considering that only 28 percent of non-LGBTQ Americans personally know a transgender person.
Related: Here are all of Trump's executive orders that have targeted transgender people — so far
“When only 28 percent of non-LGBTQ Americans say they personally know a trans person, news stories about our community are an extraordinary opportunity to humanize or demonize us,” Diamond said. “GLAAD’s study shows that responsible, accurate, and inclusive coverage is possible, even with the demands of a busy news cycle. All media must commit to basic standards that hold the administration accountable and ensure their stories accurately reflect the community under attack.”
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GLAAD is calling on media outlets to follow best practices in reporting on policies impacting transgender people. That includes prioritizing transgender voices in stories about trans issues, centering facts over rhetoric by challenging misleading statements from government officials, and providing essential context about the real-world consequences of anti-trans policies. The organization also urges newsrooms to avoid quoting anonymous administration sources justifying attacks on marginalized communities and to investigate the anti-LGBTQ+ activism of officials behind these policies.
Related: What can trans people do about Trump’s executive orders? Be plaintiffs, says Lambda Legal
GLAAD has documented more than 240 attacks on LGBTQ people through policy and rhetoric from the Trump administration. These include direct efforts to strip rights from transgender Americans and attempts to erase LGBTQ+ existence from government websites, such as the National Park Service’s page on the Stonewall National Monument.
Trump’s executive orders are already facing legal challenges, with at least nine lawsuits filed by LGBTQ+ legal groups. Four have already been blocked in federal courts. As these cases unfold, GLAAD says that media outlets have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to improve their reporting, ensuring that their coverage is factual and fair and does not merely amplify anti-trans disinformation.
“Reporters must take extra time to include the community, check facts, include context, and challenge what is being said and proposed,” Ellis said.
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