Tipsheet

NYT Highlighted ‘15 Remarkable Women’—One of Them Was a Man

Biology bowed to ideology on “International Women’s Day” March 8th as the New York Times published what it claimed were the obituaries of “15 remarkable women”—except one of those women was actually a biological male.

The Times described Marsha P. Johnson (who’s birth name was Malcolm Michaels Jr.) as “an activist, a prostitute, a drag performer and, for nearly three decades, a fixture of street life in Greenwich Village.”

The obituary parenthetically noted that, “(The term transgender was not in wide use in Johnson’s lifetime; she usually used female pronouns for herself, but also referred to herself as gay, as a transvestite or simply as a queen.)” 

And throughout the obituary the Times consistently referred to Johnson with female terminology. “She battled severe mental illness. She was usually destitute and, for much of her life, effectively homeless,” the Times said.

The obituary also stated: “Her goal, she declared in an interview for a 1972 book, was ‘to see gay people liberated and free and to have equal rights that other people have in America,’ with her ‘gay brothers and sisters out of jail and on the streets again.’ She added, in a reference to the radical politics of the time, ‘We believe in picking up the gun, starting a revolution if necessary.’”

Titled “Overlooked,” the collection of obituaries featured individuals that the Times did not write about at the time they deceased. “Since 1851, obituaries in The New York Times have been dominated by white men. Now, we’re adding the stories of 15 remarkable women,” the news outlet said about the obits. 

The Times said it will produce more obituaries about people it did not cover at the time they died and it will enlarge the scope of these obits to include people besides women.