To: Mort Zuckerman, Publisher and owner, New York Daily News
Block Transphobic Language
Dear Mr. Zuckerman,
The New York Daily News can be consistently relied upon to publish sensational articles concerning transgender people and issues. It is of course your right to do so under the Constitution. Your readers are invited to provide their comments upon these articles. Owing to the often tawdry nature of these articles, readers are able to freely and anonymously publish their bigotry. It is not uncommon for readers to use terms such as "tranny", "he-she", "ladyboy", "shim", "shemale", to describe transpeople. The New York Daily News seemingly fails to understand that these words are epithets to the transgender community, as objectionable as the "N" word is to African Americans; and while the NYDN blocks the use of the "N" word and prohibits its display in the comments section, the NYDN does not seem to be concerned about using the derogatory terms indicated above. Mr. Zuckerman, please instruct your editorial staff that these terms are objectionable and ought not be permitted to be displayed in readers comments, that they should be blocked. Thank you.
The New York Daily News can be consistently relied upon to publish sensational articles concerning transgender people and issues. It is of course your right to do so under the Constitution. Your readers are invited to provide their comments upon these articles. Owing to the often tawdry nature of these articles, readers are able to freely and anonymously publish their bigotry. It is not uncommon for readers to use terms such as "tranny", "he-she", "ladyboy", "shim", "shemale", to describe transpeople. The New York Daily News seemingly fails to understand that these words are epithets to the transgender community, as objectionable as the "N" word is to African Americans; and while the NYDN blocks the use of the "N" word and prohibits its display in the comments section, the NYDN does not seem to be concerned about using the derogatory terms indicated above. Mr. Zuckerman, please instruct your editorial staff that these terms are objectionable and ought not be permitted to be displayed in readers comments, that they should be blocked. Thank you.
Why is this important?
The New York Daily News is a newspaper that specializes in sensational stories. Readers can freely and anonymously publish their comments in response to articles, and will often freely use terms such as "tranny", "ladyboy", "shim", "shemale", to describe transpeople. While the NYDN editorial staff blocks the use of the "N" word as well as similar epithets in its comments section, they do not block the derogatory terms indicated above. Signing this petition will help the NYDN understand that this language is unacceptable to the transgender community.