Few posts ago, I asked what the proper way of addressing members of LGBTQIA+ community is. Most of the answers I got said I should ask the person how I should address them.

(A thread)

Fast forward to yesterday, when I interviewed a motornapping victim. In the police report, it said that the victim was a female under the name Rose Anne. When I looked for the victim, the police pointed to the person seen in the picture of this post.

At first I addressed the person as "Ma'am." But when they spoke, their voice was deep and husky. I got a feeling that I was speaking to a transman, but I was not sure. So, I tried my best not to call them "Ma'am" again during our conversation.

After the interview, I asked them, as politely as I could, what their preferred name and sexual orientation is. I explained that I wanted to address them properly in my report.

His name is Rosh, and he is a transman.

In my report, I did not mention his sexual orientation because it was unnecessary to the story. For the soundbite, I used his name, Rosh, and not his birth name.

BTW I have nothing against the police using his birth name. I did not check his IDs but he may not have legally changed his name, which could be a reason why the police used his birth name and gender in their report.

The point of this post is to help fellow and future journalists about how to properly address members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

(End of thread)