Reply #63: I don't wish to second guess the reporter's motive here. . . [View All]

[kevinbgoode]

and while it might be preferable to use the gender identification used by the interviewee (which would make some sense), the reporter interviewed others who continued using the "he" pronoun, including a sister who still referred to him as her "brother." There could be different reasons for this which aren't explained by the story. . .the administrators using the name of someone who is still "legally" a male. . .

Journalistically, it is a sticky area. But the reporters use of "he" when interviewing others rather underscored one of the difficulties Vera faces. That was even more emphasized in the way Vera pointed out how she prefers the use of "she" - the reporter could have left all of that out of the story, so my journalistic sense is that the writer was attempting to use that as an example. The reporter could have perhaps used "her" when referring directly to Vera. I wouldn't consider not using it particularly callous, since the focus was on the positive impact of Vera's spirit in overcoming most social stigma, including how she lets some things (like the pronoun use) roll off her back.

The media still has difficulty handling stories about the gay population - and hasn't had any style guidance by a professional association until a few years ago.