Singaporean journalist Gina Chua has decades of experience under her belt, helping stories come to fruition in publications like the Wall Street Journal and the South China Morning Post. In recent years, she has come to finally tell her own authentic story.
Today, Chua stands as one of the most senior journalists in the world to openly and proudly identify as transgender.
View this post on Instagram
She made headlines early last year when she was promoted to Executive Editor at Reuters, one of the world’s largest news agencies–of which she found herself virtually second-in-command. The announcement came just months after her own personal coming out as a trans woman.
In an interview with NBC, Chua said that transitioning as a working journalist comes with its own specific difficulties–though they reflect the larger issues trans people face.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“It becomes equally an issue on an interpersonal basis [depending] on what your job is and who you’re seeing,” she stated. “How do your sources interact with you, which is all just an extension of how does the world interact with you?”
Trans issues are constantly written on and debated in today’s news cycle, but trans representation in the average newsroom doesn’t often reflect that; it’s not just about whether trans stories are being told in media, but how they’re being relayed and how deeply the people relaying them understand transness as a whole.
“I think it’s incumbent on newsrooms to better reflect the world that we’re living in,” Chua told LGBTQNation. “That’s partly driven by more representation in newsrooms.”
“What really matters is that you can build a culture where people understand that their view isn’t the only view.”
Earlier this year, Chua exited her role at Reuters to lend her talents to media start-up Semafor, headed by Ben and Justin Smith.
Somehow, she manages to find time among it all to be an avid theater-goer and a skilled portraitist, as with this charcoal sketch of Reuters’ first female Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni:
View this post on Instagram
As more people like Chua come up in journalism, trans storylines will undoubtedly find themselves in more caring hands. For this, we couldn’t be more proud.
Watch Gina Chua discuss the ways queer journalists offer diverse vantage points to the newsroom:
Related: Reuters’ Gina Chua is hoping to stage a future where trans people flourish in media
Welcome to Queerty’s Pride50. We’re celebrating the members from our community who are responsible for some of the most inspiring and extraordinary moments for LGBTQ people over the last year. See all the honorees
Kangol2
Many thanks to Gina Chua for her important work!
innocentgay
Meanwhile I can barely get up the energy to feed my dog on time and maintain a Duolingo streak.