Timeline: Michigan Healthworker Sues for Right to Misgender Patients
by Evan Urquhart
This is our timeline coverage of a case in Michigan where a physician’s assistant (PA) is suing her workplace because, she says, her Christian beliefs require her to use some pronouns, and not others, for transgender patients in her care.
This story seems to have originated with the First Liberty Institute, a right wing Christian nonprofit legal firm. The earliest reporting we’ve found was in the Center Square (a conservative newswire service), on 9/28/2022, which was based on a press release the lawfirm put out on 9/27/2022. The story first came to our attention when it was covered in Christian media on 10/04/2022. Our first post can be found here.
UPDATE 10/19/2022: An article on Fox News digital, which was based on an interview with Kloosterman by reporter Jon Brown, added additional details and fleshed out Kloosterman’s version of events. Kloosterman claims her concerns started when a diversity training included a questionaire which required her to answer questions about gender which she disagreed with. When she raised these concerns with her supervision, the meeting became tense and, she says, she was accused of being evil. The story also includes the detail that Kloosterman claims she had never actually treated a patient who required a referral for gender affirming treatment. (In other sources based on the original press release it has been suggested that Kloosterman may not have misgendered trans patients but instead used their full names to avoid having to use any pronouns.)
We present our timelines in reverse chronological order. To jump to the beginning (in this case a press release by the First Liberty Institute on 9/27/2022), click here.
10/21/2022
LGBTQ+ Media: A queer news outlet, LGBTQ Nation, covers the story for a queer audience. First half reads like all the other stories, second half provides context of some of the potential legal flaws in Kloosterman’s lawsuit.
10/20/2022
Culture War News: Campus Reform, a right wing website with a focus on campus culture war issues, has their own independent write up, but without any new details.
UK News and Entertainment: Youth-facing UK news and entertainment site JOE.uk has some coverage of this story, based on others’ reporting, for some reason.
10/19/2022
Those Guys: A news outlet that covers LGBTQ+ issues for a queer audience covers the story. Their coverage is accurate and pretty down-the-middle, though using language more likely to resonate with their audience.
Right Wing Tabloid: The New York Post, a right wing tabloid-style news source, rehashes the story, relying on the press release and the material from FOX News digital.
Right Wing Infotainment: FOX News digital runs a story which includes quotes from an interview with Kloosterman.
10/13/2022
Michian FOX Affiliate: A straightforward piece of coverage appears on FOX 17 Michigan, a local TV news station. Their story includes a PDF of the full lawsuit. Screenshot of a statement by the hospital spokesman similar to the one on the Washington Examiner below.
Michigan Local News: Mlive news, a mainstream Michigan local news website has a story (this is behind a paywall and Assigned did not access it in full).
Sinclair Owned TV Stations: Sinlair-owned ABC News 4 of Charleston South Carolina runs a story on the suit.
Right Wing News and Opinion Again: An actual news story for the Washington Examiner comes out a few hours after the opinion piece. It has a quote from a hospital spokesman saying Kloosterman’s claim has no merit.
Washington Right Wing Daily: The Washington Times writes up the story, with details and quotes from material released by the First Liberty Institute similar to those found in other stories about the case.
Evangelical Newspaper: The Christian Post, a right wing evangelical Christian newspaper, writes a story similar to others covering the case.
Right Wing News and Opinion: The Washington Examiner runs an opinion piece by Nicole Russell, supporting Kloosterman’s case and the principle that transgender people do not have to be treated with respect by conservatives whose religion precludes that.
Far Right Falun-Gong-Owned Website: Another story runs in the Epoch Times, similar to the first in its very sympathetic portrayal of Kloosterman’s side, with lengthy quotes to her lawyers’ description of Kloosterman and her case.
10/12/2022
NBC Affiliate: WOOD TV, the local NBC affiliate for Grand Rapids, Michigan reports on the story, and includes an interview with Kloosterman’s attorney, Kayla Toney, featuring some very transphobic quotes. This local reporting also includes some context from a legal expert who believes the case will be an uphill battle because it is not similar to the precedents cited in the complaint.
Heritage Owned Website: The Daily Signal, a right wing news outlet owned by a conservative think tank, publishes a story outlining the case.
Conservative Newswire: The Center Square updates the story with the information that Kloosterman has filed a federal lawsuit against her former employer, the University of Michigan Health-West, alleging religious discrimination violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The federal lawsuit seems to be the point the dam breaks on coverage of this story in the right wing press.
10/5/2022
Far Right Falun-Gong-Owned Website: The fringe right Epoch Times covers the case, adding a very sympathetic portrait of the PA.
10/4/2022
Christian Media: The Christian Broadcasting Network, a legacy right wing Christian media organization founded by Pat Robertson, covers the lawsuit with a very strong anti-trans slant. Assigned makes our first post.
More Christian Media: The website for WORLD, a bi-weekly Christian news magazine, has a bit more reporting from Kloosterman’s side, and includes the detail that Kloosterman claims she used transgender patients names instead of pronouns to avoid directly misgendering them.
9/29/2022
Right Wing Infotainment: FOX News covers the story, and has quotes from an interview with Jordan Pratt, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute.
9/28/2022
Conservative Newswire: The Center Square, which acts as a newswire service for right wing news, reports on a letter by the First Liberty Institute, a Christian legal nonprofit, which details Kloosterman’s claims of having been attacked in a meeting for her religious beliefs, told she was responsible for trans people’s suicides, and eventually fired after she refused to use the correct pronouns for transgender patients or to refer transgender patients to appropriate gender-affirming care.
9/27/2022
Press Release: The First Liberty Institute, a right wing lawfirm representing Valerie Kloosterman, the physician’s assistant who claims to have been fired for her anti-trans religious views, puts out a press release giving Kloosterman’s side of the case.