Have You Seen Sage Smith?

The missing transgender woman, and what’s (not) being done
LGBTQ Nation
By Zack Budryk
December 31, 2012

Sage Smith is a 19-year-old African-American transgender woman who disappeared from her Charlottesville, Va., home nearly a month ago; she was last seen leaving to meet one Eric McFadden at a train station and still had not returned two days later.

According to Daryl C. Hannah of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), since Smith’s disappearance, the only remotely “mainstream” media coverage the disappearance has received has been a local news report.

During this report, despite identifying as female, Smith is repeatedly referred to using male pronouns; the local police have insisted on the same terminology, issuing a statement in which they refer to Smith as a “young man.” Even “Missing” posters in Richmond refer to Smith as “him/her.”

The case demonstrates, in microcosm, everything wrong with media coverage of trans people: the only outlet that even cares enough to cover the story cannot be bothered to even use correct pronouns, even though the Associated Press stylebook states that journalists should “use the pronoun consistent with the way the (transgender) individuals live publicly.”

She has a double strike against her, she is not a white blonde girl and she is trans, the news media is just not interested in covering her disappearance. This is not a new phenomenon you never hear about missing non-white, when a white girl goes missing it covered all over the media. Every news show has an update and interview tearful relatives. But very rarely do you hear anything on the news about a black girl or an Asian who is missing and when the person is also trans the news media backs off even more.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Sage Smith is encouraged to contact the Charlottesville, Va., Police Department at (434) 977-4000.