Media struggle picking pronouns for ex-Army doctor who tried to leak information to Russia
The former Army doctor turned would-be Russian spy came out as a transgender female in 2015
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Media outlets went to great pains to avoid "misgendering" a former Army doctor who attempted to give medical information about members of the U.S. military to Russia.
"Jamie Lee Henry, a doctor and major with the U.S. Army, and wife Anna Gabrielian, an anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins University, are facing charges after they both allegedly met with someone they thought was from the Russian embassy but turned out to be an undercover FBI agent," Fox News reported Thursday.
However, some media outlets were more interested in getting the would-be Russian spy's pronouns correct.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former U.S. Army Major Jamie Lee Henry and wife Anna Gabrielian are charged with trying to give medical information about military personnel to Russia. (istock)
Henry came out as the first openly transgender active-duty U.S. Army officer in 2015, according to Buzzfeed, but now identifies as male, according to court documents.
The gender identity switch seemed to cause great confusion for CNBC, who changed their story multiple times after publication, as captured by the Free Beacon's Jordan Chamberlain.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"CNBC is so afraid to misgender the trans Army officer who tried to give soldiers' medical information to Russia that they changed their article 3 times," Chamberlain wrote, with screenshots of three versions.
CNBC described Henry with masculine and feminine pronouns in various article versions before finally settling on "their." The news outlet attempted to explain its actions in a lengthy clarification note at the bottom of the article.
"Clarification: This article was updated several times after it was first published Thursday to change pronouns and other words related to Army Maj. Jamie Lee Henry, who in 2015 was reported to be the first known active-duty Army officer to come out as transgender. At the time, Henry identified as a transgender woman. However, the indictment against Henry unsealed Thursday refers to Henry using male pronouns, such as "he." A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baltimore told CNBC that the indictment was written that way because more recently Henry has used male pronouns and Henry’s wife had also used male pronouns to refer to Henry. During a court appearance Thursday, Henry also used male pronouns," it read.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNBC also revealed that they reached out to the defendant to ask what pronouns he prefers as well, but did not receive an answer.
FILE - Demonstrators gather on the steps of the Montana State Capitol protesting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation on March 15, 2021, in Helena, Mont. ((Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File))
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Reuters was another outlet which was careful to avoid using the "wrong" pronouns.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Justice Department reporter Sarah N. Lynch defended using male pronouns to describe Henry in her report. She shared on Twitter, "Some folks asked me if the story on the ex-Army major misgendered the defendant. Today in court, the defendant used the gender pronouns he/his."
Lynch followed up with another tweet explaining why she referred to Henry as male.
Earlier this year, MSNBC got in trouble with a LGBTQ reporter that they interviewed, after the journalist said they had "misgendered them" in the television appearance.
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