GLAAD president slams FCC crackdown on trans media

The president and CEO of GLAAD has called out Brendan Carr and the Federal Communications Commission for their inquiry on trans representation in media, saying it’s causing “harm [to] LGBTQ Americans”.

“Parents should absolutely have a say in what their kids watch, and parents already know that seeing an LGBTQ person on screen or in real life does no harm,” Sarah Kate Ellis of GLAAD said in a statement on 22 April.

“What does cause harm is government overreach. Under Brendan Carr, the Federal Communications Commission is once again attempting to dictate what can be seen on television.”

The FCC announced on 22 April that it would be launching an inquiry into the TV ratings system, including whether or not children’s programming that features transgender representation was being flagged to parents.

Carr shared on his X account that “recently, parents have raised concerns with the industry’s approach”. He claimed that the parents were arguing that certain media was “promoting controversial issues in kids programming without providing any transparency or disclosures to parents”.

In her statement, Ellis shared that 23 per cent of Americans under 30 are LGBTQ+ and that more than 5million children in the country have LGBTQ+ parents.

“Media companies must be allowed to create and broadcast stories that reflect one-quarter of their audience without interference from a government agency with its own anti-transgender political agenda,” she said.

“But this is about more than television. It’s about whether a government agency gets to reshape culture, limit storytelling, and undermine free expression. Americans should make their voices heard by submitting a comment that rejects this latest attempt by Brendan Carr’s FCC to manipulate the media, erode freedom of speech, and harm LGBTQ Americans.”

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