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NYC broadcaster Bernie Wagenblast comes out as transgender

I'm a bit confused as to why an eminently personal data has to be treated as "breaking news".

I suppose that it does have a purpose in making LGBTQ persons become part of a more mainstream concept of normalcy and acceptance, which is overall a good thing. But making a news item out of ones personal and private life that in no way affects there competences as professionals seems beyond the pale.

Am I over-reacting and taking an "old fart" attitude? Or is this just not newsworthy?
 
DavidEduardo said:
I'm a bit confused as to why an eminently personal data has to be treated as "breaking news".

I suppose that it does have a purpose in making LGBTQ persons become part of a more mainstream concept of normalcy and acceptance, which is overall a good thing. But making a news item out of ones personal and private life that in no way affects there competences as professionals seems beyond the pale.

Am I over-reacting and taking an "old fart" attitude? Or is this just not newsworthy?
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It's not that surprising, David. I mean, the fact that he's transgender is sort-of surprising, but that he'd come out, after maybe 45 years of doing traffic -- remember, he used to be Dan Ingram's traffic guy during Dan's short-lived AM Drive stint on WABC, circa 1979-80-81 -- is a way to put the lie to the Right Wing's cynical vendetta against All Things Trans. Let me say that again: Cynical Vendetta. Just another way to rile up the base through fear-mongering, in pursuit of a better outcome than they've had in recent election cycles. Or, in the case of politicians like DeSantis, some of the pavers on the supposed path to the White House. What Bernie is doing is showing Joe Six-Pack and Donna Dozzle that there are trans people out there that they've known (or known of) for many years, that they're not threatening, and who lived essentially private lives until they felt compelled to out themselves before someone else tried to.
 
Weiserguy said:
What Bernie is doing is showing Joe Six-Pack and Donna Dozzle that there are trans people out there that they've known (or known of) for many years, that they're not threatening, and who lived essentially private lives until they felt compelled to out themselves before someone else tried to.
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That is a good point. If we all consider things without bias, we have someone in our family of close to us that fits one or more of the LGBTQ+ letters. Any prejudice-laden comment is, thus, hypocritical.

While Bernie should not have to make that disclosure, it does point out that it's absurd to think less or differently about a person because they are or are not of some particular social or political inclination.
 
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I take as more that a person chose to share their own story in the hope that maybe it resonates with someone else. Sadly, I doubt it has an iota of effect on the right-wing hate machine, but moreso it may help some other person wrestling with this themselves—to live their authentic life, hatemongers be damned.

It absolutely doesn’t have an impact on their competency, and that’s really the point. We’re nowhere near as a society just accepting people for who they are. Transgendered individuals in particular are being targeted with hate, discrimination and violence. The more people who defy those troglodytes, the better.

Maybe in some future state it truly won’t matter if someone is LGBTQIA+, but it still very much does.
 
Maybe they announce it so people that they know but aren't in contact very often know. I know I've put my foot in my mouth up to the back of the heel when I've made a comment about someone who I knew but didn't realize they had undergone a sex change.
 
DavidEduardo said:
I'm a bit confused as to why an eminently personal data has to be treated as "breaking news".

I suppose that it does have a purpose in making LGBTQ persons become part of a more mainstream concept of normalcy and acceptance, which is overall a good thing. But making a news item out of ones personal and private life that in no way affects there competences as professionals seems beyond the pale.

Am I over-reacting and taking an "old fart" attitude? Or is this just not newsworthy?
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It is "old fart" and its totally OK.

Regardless of that reaction, at least Wagenblast is able to make the announcement before someone else does it without permission. (I just composed that sentence intentionally without pronouns.)

There was an incident about 20 years ago in Largo, Fla., where the city manager (a hired professional, not an elected official) was "outed" as transgender by the then-Saint Petersburg Times. The paper got a hold of an internal staff memo at city hall advising people that when "Steve" next returned to work, he'd now be a "her' who wants to be called "Susan" and that they should notice changes in wardrobe, hairstyle, etc.

I would suspect little public interest in this. Perhaps some city hall staffers might object to this person's use of a different public/office restroom (which seems to be part of the ongoing debate), but most people in town didn't even know there was a city manager or what purpose such a person served.

One wonders if a city sanitation worker's transition would have garnered the same attention by the newspaper of the Poynter Organization.

It was especially egregious, in my view, to have printed this because while Steve/Susan's wife knew of everything, they had not told their teenaged children yet. While Twitter wasn't yet a thing, Facebook and MySpace were. The paper had a very successful website from which people received email alerts. Imagine being that child and hearing that your dad is now a woman from either your computer or the other kids at school? Traumatizing.
 
As someone who had similar experiences nearly two decades ago, I congratulate Wagenblast.

A person who transitions should not be judged by the actions they make during a transition, but instead, they should be judged on the actions taken after they transition. Gender transition and social evolvement are two totally independent non-mutually exclusive paths. Just because one transitions does not mean their attitude on other things suddenly change. Caitlyn Jenner and Zoey Tur are two excellent examples of this theory. They are still the same people, just a new identity.

One of the UK's more popular presenters, Stephanie Hurst, was very popular on radio in their old identity and after transition is still going strong, if not, stronger than ever.
 
Michi said:
As someone who had similar experiences nearly two decades ago, I congratulate Wagenblast.

A person who transitions should not be judged by the actions they make during a transition, but instead, they should be judged on the actions taken after they transition. Gender transition and social evolvement are two totally independent non-mutually exclusive paths. Just because one transitions does not mean their attitude on other things suddenly change. Caitlyn Jenner and Zoey Tur are two excellent examples of this theory. They are still the same people, just a new identity.

One of the UK's more popular presenters, Stephanie Hurst, was very popular on radio in their old identity and after transition is still going strong, if not, stronger than ever.
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The late CJ Munroe from the UK was transgender, @Michi . She was a radio presenter for decades. She died several years ago, but I got to know her through being a listneing to Palm 105.5 in Devon. She even owned part of that station and once owned an FM in Cyprus.

She was quite well known before and after her transition. She was known as Glenn Richards beforehand
 
I just happened to come across this discussion while searching for something else. First, I want to thank those of you who stated your support. I've been very fortunate that my broadcasting/voice over and transportation colleagues have been overwhelmingly supportive. That kind of affirmation means a lot. I know of few trans folks who don't experience some loss following their transition.

I think the reason I've seen so much media attention is not necessarily any notoriety I had from my years on the radio and being a voice actor, but because of how I've been working on transitioning my voice. As someone who is best known for their voice and was generally unseen by the public, my voice is what people most closely identify me by. I'm the only trans person I know who is comfortable using their old voice (for professional reasons) and the new voice I am trying to develop and can fairly easily switch between the two. Once you go through male puberty it's quite difficult to create a more feminine-sounding voice. Certainly the years of using my voice professionally has helped in that process.

To answer some of the questions raised in previous posts, I go by she/her pronouns now. There were several reasons for sharing my story publicly. First, given some of the anti-trans laws being passed in large parts of the US, I felt it was important to stand up and be counted. With my media experience I was comfortable being in front of a microphone and camera and speaking to reporters. I know many trans folks are not comfortable doing that. I hoped I could be articulate enough to share my experience in a positive way. From the many decades I hid my secret I know how much it meant to me to read about other trans individuals and their experiences. I hoped to do the same both for those still "in the closet" and for younger trans people who might welcome increased trans visibility. My greatest joy has been the positive messages I've received from young trans people who are encouraged by my story and visibility.

Sorry I've been so late in responding to this thread. Please feel free to ask questions.
 
brwagenblast said:
Sorry I've been so late in responding to this thread. Please feel free to ask questions.
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Your post is a valuable explanation of something I have not either experienced personally or been close to someone who has. So here is my concern:

I wonder about whether and, if the answer is affirmative, to what extent such a transition needs/should be publicized. Is this like a wedding announcement, circulated among friends, or maybe a "graduated with honors" statement.... or is it in need* of a broader "press release" type of clarification?

* By "need" I mean that, perhaps due to remaining social prejudices and bigotry, does a statement have to be made to say "Here I am and this is how I am! (And I'm proud of it, damit!)"
 
DavidEduardo said:
Your post is a valuable explanation of something I have not either experienced personally or been close to someone who has. So here is my concern:

I wonder about whether and, if the answer is affirmative, to what extent such a transition needs/should be publicized. Is this like a wedding announcement, circulated among friends, or maybe a "graduated with honors" statement.... or is it in need* of a broader "press release" type of clarification.
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Here's another example of someone else in radio, taken from your world radio history site:


 
DavidEduardo said:
* By "need" I mean that, perhaps due to remaining social prejudices and bigotry, does a statement have to be made to say "Here I am and this is how I am! (And I'm proud of it, damit!)"
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In today’s hostile environment, in which it seems prejudices and bigotry aren‘t remaining but sadly resurgent. People wear their willful ignorance and hatred as a badge of honor, sadly.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Your post is a valuable explanation of something I have not either experienced personally or been close to someone who has. So here is my concern:

I wonder about whether and, if the answer is affirmative, to what extent such a transition needs/should be publicized. Is this like a wedding announcement, circulated among friends, or maybe a "graduated with honors" statement.... or is it in need* of a broader "press release" type of clarification?

* By "need" I mean that, perhaps due to remaining social prejudices and bigotry, does a statement have to be made to say "Here I am and this is how I am! (And I'm proud of it, damit!)"
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No, I don't believe this needs to be publicized. There are many who prefer not to share the information with the wider public. In my case, I felt it was important to share it for the reasons I expressed. As a public figure I expected this would eventually have been shared widely. I felt it was important to be ahead of that and share it in my own words and timing rather than reacting to someone else sharing it when they wished to make it public.

Beyond my own "coming out" notes that I posted on social media, I did not proactively share this with the public. I didn't go after any of the stories that have been published. In each case the reporter reached out to me. I could have refused to cooperate with the reporters but I feel that would resulted in misinformation being written. As it was, there were stories written that did not seek my comment and they contained incorrect information.
 
brwagenblast said:
No, I don't believe this needs to be publicized. There are many who prefer not to share the information with the wider public. In my case, I felt it was important to share it for the reasons I expressed. As a public figure I expected this would eventually have been shared widely. I felt it was important to be ahead of that and share it in my own words and timing rather than reacting to someone else sharing it when they wished to make it public.

Beyond my own "coming out" notes that I posted on social media, I did not proactively share this with the public. I didn't go after any of the stories that have been published. In each case the reporter reached out to me. I could have refused to cooperate with the reporters but I feel that would resulted in misinformation being written. As it was, there were stories written that did not seek my comment and they contained incorrect information.
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It really comes down to agendas, Bernie. Your agenda is to get your story out accurately. A reporter operating in good faith should want to do the same, even if they don't initially get all the details right. But some people have malicious agendas, whether that means hurting you, hurting other trans people, or scoring political or religious points. You're right to try to be ahead of that curve, and damn those other folks.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
In today’s hostile environment, in which it seems prejudices and bigotry aren‘t remaining but sadly resurgent. People wear their willful ignorance and hatred as a badge of honor, sadly.
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What is sad is that so many people will not agree with you and the other supportive posts here!
 
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