Wednesday on NBC’s Today, viewers watched a special series titled Undercovered, a segment where NBC News investigative correspondent Ronan Farrow shares stories that apparently “aren’t necessarily in the headlines every day.” Apparently, these stories don’t present both sides of the issue, either.
The issue surrounding transgender rights has saturated the mainstream media for months. Exactly one year ago, former Olympian Bruce Jenner transitioned to Caitlyn Jenner and shocked the world with her Vanity Fair cover. Many from Hollywood, including Actress Laverne Cox from the Netflix series Orange is the New Black, have also become increasingly vocal in their support for the transgender community.
In recent months, the political controversy surrounding transgender bathroom laws that started in North Carolina have sparked similar backlash in other states. As of last Wednesday, eleven states, led by Texas, joined as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Obama Administration’s guidance that transgender students be permitted to use the bathroom of their choice in public schools. The Department of Education and the Department of Justice directed that a school “must not treat a transgender student differently from the way it treats other students of the same gender identity.” This is the most recent instance of Executive overreach coming out of the Obama White House, and more of the same one-sided reporting we see from NBC.
It is unsurprising that Savannah Guthrie introduced this story as one that “isn’t necessarily in the headlines everyday” and Ronan Farrow presented this issue as one that is “undercovered.”
The segment focused on the transition of a student at Notre Dame University who detailed her struggles of living in an all boys dorm and her fears of using a female bathroom. She even said she refrains from participating in college life.
EVE: So you know I avoid going out at night when everyone is drunk.
RONAN FARROW: Because you fear for your safety?
EVE: Uh, yeah. Uh. Imagine if you know I was at a, I tried to go to a party or something. And it’s like, oh the, pardon my language, I'm going to use a slur -- but you know the, oh the tranny's hitting on me.
The interview failed to include interviews or quotes from any of Eve’s classmates. Rather, it featured her supportive dorm R.A., Forest, who shared questions he had fielded about her transition.
FOREST: There were a couple of guys who would come to me and ask, why, why, this is a mens residence hall, why is there a person in here who is dressing and presenting as a woman? And I had to tell them, well, she is a women.
Is it out of the ordinary for boys in an all male dorm to question why there is a girl dressing and presenting as a woman living there? Are we never allowed to ask questions about this issue? How else are people supposed to understand what is going on? We certainly can’t rely on the one-sided reporting of Ronan Farrow and NBC, who referred to last year as an “all-time high for the number of anti-transgender hate crimes in a single year.” In November of 2015, the FBI released a report that increased violence and threats against transgender and gender-nonconforming people tripled from 31 incidents in 2013, to 98 incidents in 2014.
In looking at the bias breakdown of the 2015 FBI report, 0.6% of crimes were based on gender bias and 1.8% of crimes were based on gender identity bias. To paint a fuller picture, 11.9% of crimes were based on an ethnic bias, 18.6% of crimes were based on religious bias, and 47.0% of crimes were based on a racial bias.
Farrow went on to cite to the ACLU to highlight the number of states that have joined the transgender bathroom conversation:
It's a struggle many of America's estimated 700,000 transgender men and women face. So far in 2016, 18 states have introduced bills to restrict the rights of transgender Americans according to the ACLU. Including so-called bathroom bills that ban transgender people like Eve from the bathroom of their stated gender.
The legal component to this issue is absent in Ronan Farrow’s “investigative reporting.” The several states have the right to sue the Federal Government over the most recent guidance and constitutional interpretation from the Obama Administration regarding transgender bathrooms in public schools. Many states can and will reject the hyper-liberal policies of the Obama Adminstration until the issue is inevitably decided by the Supreme Court. In the mean time, the viewers of NBC have a right to hear both sides of this issue. While the safety of transgender people is important, this is by no means an under-reported issue.
View Full Transcript Here:
06-01-16 NBC - Today
8:32:47 AM - 8:38:02 AM
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: And now to a new installment of our special series Undercovered where NBC News Investigative Correspondent Ronan Farrow brings you the stories that aren't necessarily in the headlines every day.MATT LAUER: Today he's here with a personal side of the national fight over transgender rights. Ronan, it’s good to see you, Good Morning.
RONAN FARROW: Good Morning, good to see you guys. So last week eleven states sued the Obama administration after it directed public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms matching their gender identity. For one young woman that we've been following for the past year, that fight hits very close to home.
[Report]
FARROW: When we met Eve last year, she was heading off to junior year at University of Notre Dame.
FARROW: It’s good to see you.
FARROW: A year that's brought rites of passage a lot of college students face.
EVE: I'm taking an algebraic geometry course.
FARROW: And some less familiar ones.
EVE: And once every two weeks I inject myself with some of this. This is still estrogen. It’s estrogen of course.
FARROW: Eve has been juggling school with a gender transition. Keeping us updated on changes outside.
EVE: Well my face looks a little different.
FARROW: And in.
EVE: I feel different mentally and emotionally. Because I’m like, you know, the hormonal equivalent of like a 13-year-old girl right now.
FARROW: Eve returned to her old all-boys dorm, where some have been accepting, like her dorm R.A., Forest.
R.A. FOREST: I think it's always important to be compassionate.
FARROW: But others haven’t been as supportive.
EVE: So for a while I was catching like behind my back that were being said, about how I was like, messed up, had a mental disorder.
R.A. FOREST: There were a couple of guys who would come to me and ask, why, why, this is a mens residence hall, why is there a person in here who is dressing and presenting as a woman? And I had to tell them, well, she is a women.
EVE: Like I would honestly I would prefer to live in a women's dorm.
FARROW: Have you asked to go into a girls dorm?
EVE: Umm, I've asked about it. Uh. Administrations are slow. I expect, honestly, that the University is hoping that as soon as I leave, no one will ever try this again.
THERESA: I think she would be safer in a girls' dorm.
FARROW: Theresa is Eve's mom.
FARROW: Does it make you angry when you hear about people at the school, people elsewhere, blocking her from being where she wants?
THERESA: Absolutely. I mean you always want what is best for your child. Momma Bear protecting her cubs.
FARROW: Notre Dame declined to be interviewed or comment. The lack of acceptance has made even some make everyday activities frightening.
FARROW: So I understand you used the women's restroom for the first time here on campus?
EVE: Yeah, it was really scary. I mean I know that I don't want to hurt anyone, but it’s like if someone just says something I can get like thrown out.
FARROW: It's a struggle many of America's estimated 700,000 transgender men and women face. So far in 2016, 18 states have introduced bills to restrict the rights of transgender Americans according to the ACLU. Including so-called bathroom bills that ban transgender people like Eve from the bathroom of their stated gender.
EVE: I am safer using a women's restroom than using a men's restroom. People don't even consider the safety of the individuals.
THERESA: All they want to do is use the bathroom. They're probably more uncomfortable than the other person. It's a safety issue.
FARROW: For transgender people?
THERESA: Mm-hmm.
FARROW: Last year was an all-time high for the number of anti-transgender hate crimes in a single year. So far this year, there's been a reported 12 transgender Americans killed in suspected hate crimes. For Eve, those numbers are an everyday reality.
EVE: So you know I avoid going out at night when everyone is drunk.
FARROW: Because you fear for your safety?
EVE: Uh, yeah. Uh. Imagine if you know I was at a, I tried to go to a party or something. And it’s like, oh the, pardon my language, I'm going to use a slur -- but you know the, oh the tranny's hitting on me.
FARROW: What is your reaction, when she says she worries for her personal safety?
THERESA: Mad at society. I can imagine what it is like, for someone you know to have to deal with that on a daily basis.
FARROW: It's left Eve struggling once again with depression. Every person who has shown support has been a lifeline. That includes Eve's sister, Kaitlyn.
KAITLYN: She still has the same personality. Yeah she looks a little bit different. I'm jealous of her hair. She's gorgeous, I’m going to be there for her.
FARROW: What is your greatest hope for Eve?
THERESA: That she can be whoever she wants to be without the fear of being judged. To be happy. Be strong. Be tough. You can do it. And you're better than they are. You can do it.
[End of report]
FARROW: Eve says after repeatedly asking Notre Dame to move her into a women's dorm, she finally had enough, she recently moved to off campus housing, which she says is helping her just be herself.
GUTHRIE: I know you've been following her story for a long time. It is heartening to see her have such a supportive family, too.
FARROW: Although in the midst of some dark times we actually had the update the number of trans murders just in the last few days.
LAUER: And I'm surprised that Notre Dame didn’t at least sit down and talk to you about it.
FARROW: I think this is very new for them. We'll see if we get a response after this airs.
LAUER: Alright Ronan, thank you very much.
FARROW: Thanks.
GUTHRIE: Thank you.
8:38:02 AM
