The liberal media channel the spirit of George Orwell's dystopian fiction when they describe gender-denying amputations and hormonal treatments as "gender-affirming care." LGBTQ lobbies like the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) insist on it. It even happens at FoxNews.com.
This might be surprising, since Tucker Carlson drew the ire of lefties for suggesting transgender ideology is the polar opposite of Christianity. But the website Catholic Vote noted this week that on Monday, Fox’s online division covered Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of S.B. 150.
The bill, which was passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature, would have both banned subjecting minors to “transgender surgeries” and expanded parental rights in education by preventing classroom discussion of topics of a sexual nature.
Although the Fox article uses “gender transition surgery” in the headline, two uses of “gender-affirming care” are baked into the body of the text – one in the caption of a photo of Beshear and the other in the second-to-last paragraph. The governor is up for re-election this November in a state that voted Republican by 26 points in 2020.
They also flagged Fox’s story on a proposed Minnesota bill, posted March 25, uses the term “gender-affirming” 11 times. I counted seven times where it was used in quotes, and four without quotes (two in captions).
One could argue that using it in quotes from LGBTQ leftists is merely part of reporting what is being said. But reporters choose which quotes to use, so you could minimize the Orwellian sound of a story. Surely, liberal media outlets will avoid quoting conservatives using 'bigoted' terms or derogatory lingo about the Left in their stories.
But it should also be noticed that Fox tells readers that it's borrowing some reporting from the Associated Press, which throws in "gender-affirming care" all over the place with no quote marks.
Finally, Catholic Vote flagged a short Fox News piece dated March 21, covering a debate in the Nebraska Legislature, which uses “gender-affirming” six times without quotation marks. Who wrote that? The byline is....."Associated Press."
Mary Margaret Olohan at the Daily Signal noticed this trend online at Fox in mid-March on Twitter:
Why is Fox News using leftist lingo designed to hide the realities of transgender surgeries for kids? pic.twitter.com/NitWx9NC9w
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) March 14, 2023
We've heard them use "so-called gender-affirming care" on Fox's airwaves, but with a phrase this inaccurate, that's still bowing halfway to unreality.
