After being denied a press pass to the 24th annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York for its history of anti-transgender coverage and refusal to sit down with GLAAD and trans community leaders, the New York Post covered the show anyway, publishing a photograph of Madonna sharing a congratulatory kiss with Anderson Cooper after presenting him with the Vito Russo Award.
Not only did they cover the show, the New York Post put a huge half page photo on page three of their newspaper. When New Yorkers opened their papers, the GLAAD Media Awards were front and center. But the New York Post didn't make amends - they showed yet again how badly they miss the mark on LGBT issues.
Rather than attempt to outline the serious issues that brought Madonna to the GLAAD Media Awards in a Boy Scout uniform, the Post focused only on the introductory jokes of the music artist's moving speech against the Boy Scouts' discriminatory ban on gay scouts and leaders.
LGBT and allied employees of the New York Post should be embarassed that their paper had to resort to a press pool photo of the event, because they weren't there themselves. But they should be downright ashamed of the transphobic coverage that got them denied in the first place.
The Post was given a choice, and decided to let itself be banned from the show rather than start taking trans issues seriously. Therefore, they also missed the parts of the show that would have perhaps allowed it to see transgender people as human beings, rather than punchlines.
During his speech at the show, GLAAD President Herndon Graddick spoke about the great deal of work left to be done for transgender equality, and how GLAAD is prioritizing transgender issues more than ever before. The misrepresentation and stereotyping of transgender people needs to end, and the Post should take GLAAD up on our offer to sit down and speak about some of the powerful stories of LGBT New Yorkers.