Source: National Geographic
In response to the vast array of questions, concerns and comments on the recently published National Geographic issue that featured a transgender child on the cover, the Nat Geo team released a series of answers to frequent questions from readers.
The team explained that “reporting on the changing understanding of a biological and social understanding” is “what we do” and that’s how the decision was made to report on the important topic of gender identity, with the intention to “research, understand, and explain.”
There are two different cover photos, mostly to engage different audiences who are readers of National Geographic.
There is no representation of a cisgender female on the cover that has multiple people on it, but most of the content in the issue covers issues faced by females, Nat Geo explained.
Initially, National Geographic called intersex a “disorder” after consulting several experts. Many readers and leaders in the LGBTQ community wrote in to the magazine saying that the definition was offensive and detrimental to the community of persons who are of intersex. National Geographic removed and revised the definition.
Children were the main focus of the published issue because of their ability to perceive their world around them, and also to explain how gender identity affects their daily lives as they develop.
The issue was in the works for two years and sent for print in October.
Read full story at: National Geographic