Dear fellows,
please read the following article „Elsa sucht – wohnungslos in Hamburg”. Referring to this article, I would like to show you how trans- or non-binary- hostile journalism looks like.
https://fink.hamburg/2018/04/elsa-sucht-wohnung-suche/
The article was uploaded on April 26th by FINK.Hamburg which is the online magazine of the M.A. “Digitale Kommunikation” (Campus Finkenau). Elsa decided voluntarily to participate in this interview in April this year.
It starts with an intervention in Elsa’s privacy. The phrase, that there was no connection between Elsa and a gender indicates the heteronormative idea that there are only two sexes. In one breath the words “unemployed” and “nightmare” follow, which totally stigmatize Elsa.
Having met Elsa, I would have chosen a different presentation for the beginning of the main section. Maybe there are different perceptions of the same person between the author and I. However, a representative of FINK.Hamburg states, that all observations were made carefully, keeping the press law in mind.
Further on, the author describes Elsa’s voice and mimic as that of a man, however the clothes are women’s. This again indicates the idea of just two sexes. According to the representative, the sentence is also based on good journalistic observation. This idea discriminates and degrades all people who cannot find themselves in the two sexes - male and female. Although it is emphasized that Elsa does not belong to either the female or the male gender in the beginning of the article, her decision gets denied by the author. That is, because according to him it is possible to allocate a gender for Elsa. On Elsa's push after publication of this article, an added footnote at the end of the article states that Elsa calls herself non-binary. It is ridiculous, that her self-description cannot appear in the text itself but is placed at the end. This was also justified with journalistic standards. But do journalistic standards and laws justify discriminative expressions and behaviours?
In the first paragraphs, the article has significant shortcomings in its handling with Elsa related to her sexual affiliation. But now, this is the remarkable thing about the story:
The article should be about the search for an apartment in Hamburg!
FINK.Hamburg argues, that Elsa’s non-binary existence is one of the reasons for her homelessness, therefore Elsa’s gender should also be topic of the article. But stigmatizing her because of her unemployment would break taboos?
It definitely would have been possible to treat the topic of gender identity in a respectful way and according to FINK.Hamburg that was the intention. Actually, the author wanted to raise awareness for the queer issue. But therefore, it is not necessary to write about this sensitive topic in a ruthless way. For example, you wouldn’t comment on how an outfit fits to a person of colour. With this example I want to make clear how discrimination happens in this case.
In addition, this incident is not an isolated case. The TransInterQueer e.V. states, that the examples of descriptions of trans* people which are stereotypical, clichéd or exotic are innumerable in media (TransInterQueer e.V., 2014). The confusion that a trans* or non-binary person triggers when she reveals her identity should then be acknowledged as her/his problem instead of dealing with the issue itself. This pattern is frequently observed.
What is frightening about the whole thing is that, according to the FINK.Hamburg officials, as well as the public legal information, everything in relation to the press law was handled correctly. Nevertheless, Elsa, as she is presented in the article, has been personally injured. After Elsa has complained vigorously and has tried several options to draw attention to her discontent, she has been excluded from any communication with the FINK.Hamburg. The case was then referred to me as the Anti-discrimination speaker of the AStA. Also for me there is no other option left as this Info-Mail to point out this injustice.
This case demonstrates that the law fails to be a moral advice here. We need to start listening to minorities and taking their needs seriously in this more and more diverse world. It is not enough to rely on written law. Laws cannot legitimize discrimination. Again and again, we have to question the laws and, in case of questions of interpretation, we must listen to the voices of the affected people instead of denying their unfair treatment.
It remains to work on increasing awareness in society. Elsa, the AStA, as well as solidary supporters demand that the article is being removed from the internet. FINK.Hamburg rejects this request.
*I used the article’s anonymous name
Sources:
Tobias Bug (2018): Elsa sucht – wohnungslos in Hamburg, in: FINK.Hamburg [online];
https://fink.hamburg/2018/04/elsa-sucht-wohnung-suche/ (10.07.2018)
8)
TransInterQueer e.V. (2014): Trans* in den Medien, Informationen für Journalist_innen [online];
http://www.transinterqueer.org (10.07.18).
