Published February 10, 2025
There was a football game Sunday, I’m told. I didn’t watch one second of it. That’s the first Super Bowl I’ve ever missed. I was in bed, unconscious.
The morning hours wore me out. I raged myself to sleep.
The New York Times Editorial Board wrote and published that with a straight face.
I won’t be providing you a gift link to read it for free. You’re on your own.
Why not? In case you’ve forgotten, here’s a refresher. Also, you won’t want to miss this update on the person who wrote the defense of JK Rowling mentioned in my story.
I have thoughts. Lots of thoughts. But no energy. So let me allow others to speak.
I got mad at the New York Times after their editorial board released an opinion piece condemning Trump’s anti-trans EOs and I decided to write about how the paper of record laundered transphobia into the mainstream and paved the road for Trump’s transphobia. www.patreon.com/posts/nyt-ed…
— Katelyn Burns (@katelynburns.com) February 9, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Here’s more from Katelyn Burns on Patreon. You should read every word, no matter what it costs you. Most cisgender people I know don’t have any idea about any of this.
The New York Times has a lot to do to win back the trust of its now former trans readers and journalists. Hire a trans opinion writer now. Quote trans people in every trans-related news hit. Investigate reporters who are accused by innocent parents and Times sources of “betraying” them. Enforce your own editorial standards on your trans-related pieces.
There is certainly plenty of shame to go around when it comes to the treatment of trans people in today’s society, but it’s the Times’ leadership who needs to feel more of it.
Carly, you should be grateful. The Times finally came around! Well …
For those thinking the NYT grew a spine, hold tight… even in this piece they equivocate on sports and trans youth care.
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) February 9, 2025 at 1:38 PM
2. The most recent article from the NYT editorial board is almost laughable. The idea that a paper which has stirred up so much hate and discriminatory policy towards the transgender community would even think about publishing this and not an apology is unthinkable.
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) February 9, 2025 at 10:14 AM
3. The board compares Trump’s policies to past dark chapters in American history—opposition to civil rights for Black Americans, or the backlash against same-sex marriage in the early 2000s.
What the piece omits, however, is the paper’s own complicity.
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) February 9, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Today the @nytimes.com sought to whitewash its central role in laundering anti-trans falsehoods and turbocharging anti-trans attacks nationwide. My reporting showed that editorial leadership was aware of this depravity which is why this disingenuous piece can’t erase the scale of what they’ve done.
— Imara Jones (@imarajones.bsky.social) February 9, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Any regrets? Apologies. Nope.
Nope.
— A.J. Bauer (@ajbauer.bsky.social) February 9, 2025 at 4:56 AM
The absolute gall of the Times for publishing this after spending years platforming every anti-trans voice in the country and pushing for moderates to turn their back on these people when they needed them most.
Shameful doesn’t cover it. I don’t know how they sleep at night.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@jysexton.bsky.social) February 9, 2025 at 7:57 AM
i know we all think the NYT op-ed board issuing a “hey wha hoppen with trans rights” piece is a little rich but don’t worry: about halfway through they make sure to tell us it’s okay to keep Just Asking Questions 👍
— mattie lubchansky (@mattielubchansky.com) February 9, 2025 at 5:47 AM
The idea that there should be a public debate about the appropriate medical care for a minuscule population of children remains one of the most absurd lies that these liberal transphobes, NYT edit board included, tell themselves. No there shouldn’t! It’s not an appropriate matter for public debate!
— Julia Carrie Wong (@joolia.bsky.social) February 9, 2025 at 8:16 AM
To show “fairness,” the Times had to rely on a lot of links to coverage by other outlets. That’s what happens when your own coverage is mercilessly slanted the other way, whether covertly or overtly.
I noticed none of the links in the screenshotted portions go to a story from the New York Times.
In the full editorial there are a few NYT stories linked, but far fewer than you’d expect from an outlet which typically does not link out if they can avoid it.
(From www.nytimes.com/2025/02/09/o…)
— Evan Urquhart (@evanurquhart.bsky.social) February 9, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Here’s more from Evan:
If you want to understand what happened at the New York Times this story of mine from last month broke some news and also includes an overview of where we are and how we got here, linking others’ good work.
— Evan Urquhart (@evanurquhart.bsky.social) February 9, 2025 at 9:46 AM
My friend and former NYT editor Billie Jean Sweeney and I are on the same page.
From me: Sulzberger and the newsroom leaders Kahn and Ryan saw trans ppl as prey. They could demonize us to gain favor with the right, and it could be done at no cost to them.
— Billie Jean Sweeney (@billiejsweeney.bsky.social) February 9, 2025 at 10:20 AM
I think this holds up pretty well
— Ian Boudreau (@ianboudreau.com) February 9, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Fascinating how the New York Times editorial board finally acknowledges this, after participating in it for years.
— Jack Turban MD (@turban.bsky.social) February 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Also available at Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/121944…
— Parker Molloy (@parkermolloy.com) February 10, 2025 at 11:07 AM
It makes as much sense to have a public debate about trans healthcare as it does to have a public debate about hip replacements. You almost certainly know nothing about it and so you should shut up. The government knows nothing about it and should leave it to the experts
— Katy Montgomerie 🦗 (@katymontgomerie.com) February 10, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Honestly, I think this is true. Even some of the fake both-sides anti-trans “centrists” are sort of mumbling and upset with the way Trump is enacting the same policies they’ve been calling for for years.
Trump just makes bare exactly what’s behind anti-trans sentiment.
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) February 11, 2025 at 11:28 AM
This from the Times’ newest “We didn’t mean it that way!” article, seems to sum your points pretty succinctly
— girlsrockmovie.bsky.social (@girlsrockmovie.bsky.social) February 11, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Note it’s the “tone” that bothers her…as you say, gauche.
— girlsrockmovie.bsky.social (@girlsrockmovie.bsky.social) February 11, 2025 at 3:19 PM
It’s giving “Shhh! Not so loud…”
— lobleytea.bsky.social (@lobleytea.bsky.social) February 11, 2025 at 6:17 PM
The best part is that once trans rights become normalized liberals will act like they were fully supportive of them all along. Just like they’ve done with every other social cause for the past 200 years.
— Rodrigo Aguilera 🇲🇽 🇺🇦 🇵🇸 (@rodaimonia.bsky.social) February 11, 2025 at 11:44 AM
“Yes, we kind of wanted trans folks to be erased from society. But now that Big Scary is working on just that, but with snarls and chest beating and the dead-eyed billionaires grinning along, and it makes us look kind of like assholes. And we don’t like that.”
— Diana Boggs (@dianaboggs.bsky.social) February 11, 2025 at 11:51 AM
This is the Lincoln Project’s entire thing, as well. They aren’t opposed to most of his policy aims, they’re concerned that the brazenness and lack of proper procedure makes it more likely they’ll be ridiculed in the streets and have their meals spat in when they eat at restaurants.
— Fix your hearts or spork (@strivingally.bsky.social) February 11, 2025 at 1:19 PM
The Big (Beautifully Black) Game
As for the Super Bowl, I later saw the best parts, the beautiful celebration of Blackness — in New Orleans — with layers that surely sailed over the heads of so many.
Fabulous 🇺🇸💥
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) February 9, 2025 at 5:47 PM
No doubt it made the right people uncomfortable.
Of course they’re mad. For fifteen minutes on the largest possible stage they were reminded that there’s a lot of power that they don’t have.
— Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a resolute floof (@evanbernick.bsky.social) February 9, 2025 at 6:10 PM
They might as well not have existed. That’s what they can’t stand. Defiance through joy that very aggressively signals that ultimately they do not matter at all and won’t last.
— Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a resolute floof (@evanbernick.bsky.social) February 9, 2025 at 6:16 PM
It was powerful. An American flag literally built and displayed on the backs of Black people, as several people noted last night (including one who has requested that their posts not be displayed on other sites).
No more martyrs, Kendrick Lamar seemed to say. Resistance to Trump is an “all of us” project. Dave Zirin looks at the brilliant, cooperative political art that was the Super Bowl halftime show.
— The Nation Magazine (@thenation.com) February 10, 2025 at 8:18 AM
“They are pieces of soggy Wonder bread, reduced to attacking brilliance because it exposes their mediocrity. It’s just stupid to think some addled 78-year-old misogynist caked in orange is the peak of masculinity.”
I wrote about Kendrick Lamar Superbowl performance– its subversive messaging about America being a rigged, deadly game of survival– especially for Black people.
But we need to stop pretending revolution is going to come from celebrities. It’ll come from us.
Gift link here: wapo.st/42JVBs6
— Karen Attiah (@karenattiah.bsky.social) February 11, 2025 at 8:44 AM
I’ve been updating this, as you can probably see. I’m probably asleep right now. I don’t even know if this is coherent, I’m so wiped out. Sixteen hours of sleep every day and I can still barely move.
I won’t be holding my breath waiting for an apology from the people running The New York Times. I’m going to need all the rest and recovery I can get to figure out a way to return from my medical leave (mental and physical health) to work for a company they own and control.
Photo by Matthew Nichols1 via Shutterstock.
♥
Thank you for reading
If you appreciate what you find here and feel generous, you can check out the Tip Jar. Thank you for reading. Here’s a butterfly for you.
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Further reading
Chris Geidner: Breaking: Defense Sec orders immediate “pause” on trans medical care, trans military recruits
Samantha Riedel: It’s Pathetic That Dems Can’t Stop Nancy Mace From Saying the T-Slur in Congress
Parker Malloy: The New York Times Discovers Its Conscience on Trans Rights — to an Extent
Amanda Marcotte: “‘Women’ is a banned word”: Trump uses trans panic to strip rights from all women
Margaret Sullivan: We need righteous indignation and truth-telling, not complacency
19th News: Federal Office on Violence Against Women removes funding opportunities from website
Jezebel: Rape Crisis Centers Say Federal Funding Disruptions Are Impeding Life-Saving Programs
Michael Harriot: Why White People* Didn’t Like Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance
*Not all white people. Some exclusions apply. Void where caucasity prohibited.
Finally
As is my custom, I will not be attending so they can’t accuse me of leaking information from it. I say what I have to say openly, with my name on it, at the risk of termination. Although I am on leave, they still own my life.