A former editor at The New York Times has alleged that the publication’s senior leadership is “militant” in its opposition to trans rights, accusing the newsroom of silencing internal dissent and failing to represent trans voices.
Billie Jean Sweeney, a trans journalist and campaigner, made the claims in an exclusive interview with Trans News Network, where she detailed the internal culture of the 175-year-old media institution in the lead-up to the 2024 US election.
Sweeney claimed that attempts by employees to raise concerns about the paper’s coverage of trans issues were systematically shut down by leadership.
“One of the things that happened was that [NYT chairman A.G. Sulzberger] kind of came around and gave a stump speech to every part of the paper, including the international desk,” she said.
“He talked for 40 minutes about how we were going to cover the election ‘fairly’ and that sort of thing. The international desk wasn’t really that involved… so it was a little off-key for us. We were all like, ‘why are we talking about this?’”
Internal Dissent Allegedly Suppressed
According to Sweeney, staff previously had the opportunity to question editorial direction via Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). However, these internal forums were reportedly disbanded or defunded following growing criticism of the Times’ editorial stance on trans issues.
She described the actions of leadership as “militant”, stating that any pockets of opposition were actively suppressed.
The claims follow ongoing scrutiny over the New York Times’ coverage of transgender issues. In 2023, more than 100 LGBTQ+ advocacy organisations signed an open letter condemning the publication’s reporting as biased, inaccurate, and dangerous for trans youth.
The letter demanded that the Times immediately cease publishing “anti-trans stories” and begin consulting members of the trans community directly. It also called on the paper to hire at least four full-time trans journalists and editors to improve representation and accuracy.
Reporting Used to Justify Anti-Trans Legislation
Journalist Ari Drennen noted in 2023 that one of the Times’ controversial articles about gender-affirming care for youth was cited in a Missouri executive order that severely restricted access to care for trans minors.
Despite mounting pressure, Sweeney claimed the publication has not hired any trans reporters to cover trans issues.
“They still don’t have any trans journalists covering trans news in the newsroom,” she said. “They have [columnist] M. Gessen on the opinion side, but no trans news reporters.”
