GLAAD BLOG

Janet Mock remembers Lorena Escalera at #glaadawards

Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - 11:34am by Marcus Brock, Media Field Strategist at
GLAAD

On Saturday night at the 23rd GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco, Janet
Mock <http://janetmock.com>, noted author, trans advocate and editor,
joined GLAAD in calling for a meeting with staff members of The New York
Times to discuss transgender issues.

[Video: <http://youtu.be/VW8eQJMmIDM> Janet Mock Remembers Lorena Escalera
at the #glaadawards]

Last month, The New York Times printed an anti-trans and sexist
article<http://www.glaad.org/blog/ny-times-does-not-retract-dehumanizing-cove...>about
Lorena Escalera, a trans woman of color who was killed in a building
fire at her Brooklyn home. The article dehumanized Lorena as a woman,
making salacious comments that were irrelevant to her death. Some of the
article’s introductory caveats described Lorena as “curvaceous,” that she
“drew admiring glances” and was "called" Lorena, as if that weren't her
name.

GLAAD, along with other advocates including Janet
Mock<https://twitter.com/janetmock/status/201688759648002048>,
Laverne Cox<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laverne-cox/lorena-escalera-a-life-th_b...>,
Jennifer Finney
Boylan<http://www.glaad.org/blog/ny-times-does-not-retract-dehumanizing-cove...>and
Autumn
Sandeen<http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2012/05/14/sexualizing-a-victim...>as
well as
Colorlines.com<http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/05/ny_transgender_woman_dies_in_a...>all
spoke
out against the dehumanizing coverage of Lorena in the Times
article<http://www.glaad.org/blog/ny-times-trans-exploitation-completely-unac...>,
prompting a community
response<http://www.glaad.org/blog/ny-times-trans-exploitation-generates-commu...>
.

After receiving a call from GLAAD, the Times’ Metro Editor, Carolyn Ryan
issued the paltry statement: "We typically try to capture the personal
stories of those whose lives are lost in a fire, and we sought to do so in
this case. We certainly did not mean any disrespect to the victim or those
who knew her. But, in retrospect, we should have shown more care in our
choice of words."

GLAAD has since called for a meeting with the Times, as one of the most
influential media outlets in the country, to discuss coverage of trans
issues. On stage, Janet echoed the community's disapproval of the Times'
coverage of Lorena, and called on the media to treat transgender women with
dignity.

“Lorena was a trans woman—just like myself. And she was stripped of her
dignity. I spoke out alongside many other trans women who saw the article
as a slap in the face to girls like us everywhere. GLAAD joined us in
taking the Times to task, and the paper responded with a rather weak
statement.”

She continued by demanding the media represent trans people with respect
and not as “less-than-human creatures to be gawked at.” Then, the
conversation was turned to the even greater issue—and that is that violence
against trans women of color is on the
rise<http://www.glaad.org/blog/violence-against-transgender-people-and-peo...>,
noting that the shift in attitude needs to happen *now*. The recent stories
of CeCe McDonald’s
sentencing<http://www.glaad.org/blog/cece-mcdonald-sentenced-today-supporters-st...>and
Paige
Clay’s murder in
Chicago<http://www.qwoc.org/2012/05/janet-mock-launches-girlslikeus-campaign-...>demonstrate
this reality.

Mock, who started #girlslikeus<https://twitter.com/#%21/search/%23girlslikeus>,
called on the LGBT and allied communities to speak up and report any
dehumanizing or anti-LGBT stories in the
media<http://www.glaad.org/reportdefamation>
.

For a complete list of award recipients, click
here<http://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/recipients>.
For pictures of the event, click
here<https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150936901368840.443426.18...>
.

http://www.glaad.org/blog/janet-mock-remembers-lorena-escalera-glaada...