NYT Won’t Be Correcting the Name of Deceased Trans Conjoined Twin
Despite pressure from GLAAD, the NYT resisted efforts to update their obituary for Lori and George Schappell to remove repeated uses of a previously used female name for George.
by Evan Urquhart
On April 7, conjoined twins George and Lori Schappell died at the age of 62. The twins were famous for their unusual medical condition, their longevity compared to similarly situated twins, and for leading very separate lives despite being born joined at the skull. Among their differences, George was a trans man, Lori a cis woman. George’s identity as a transgender man seems to have presented little difficulty for any of the dozens of news outlets that covered their death, save one: The New York Times.
Despite efforts behind the scenes by GLAAD (a nonprofit that advocates for respectful representation of LGBTQ+ people in media), and despite some changes to the original text of the Schappells’ obituary by Richard Sandomir, the NYT remains an outlier in the coverage of Lori and George Schappells’ deaths by using a female name repeatedly to describe George.
News stories written to mark the Schappells’ passing each covered many of the same facts with slightly different areas of emphasis. Most note the Schappells lived far longer than they were expected to. Many mention the twins spent their early years in an institution for the intellectually disabled, despite having no intellectual disability, and were eventually freed at 24 through the intervention of Ginny Thornburgh, then the Governor of Pennsylvania’s wife.
Some stories also mention George’s name changes and country music career. George changed his name twice, first to Reba, later to George when he came out as trans in 2007. The choice of Reba reflected George’s fandom of singer Reba McIntyre, and he performed country music covers of McIntyre’s songs under that name in the 1990s and early 2000s. Many stories Assigned reviewed mention his country singing career and a few refer to his having used the name “Reba” during this period of time.
For example, a CBS News story mentions briefly that George once used the name Reba, and further refers to Reba McIntyre as “his former namesake” once. Perhaps the outlet most focused on the country music side of things is the news site Wide Open Country, which refers to George as “George ‘Reba’ Schappell” in their headline, then explains once in the body of the story that George previously performed country music under that name. While Reba McIntyre and her oeuvre is referred back to repeatedly, Wide Open Country otherwise only refers to George as George.
In contrast, the New York Times’ obit contains four references to George as George and then refers to George as “Reba” an additional nine times. The current version of the obit also includes a quote from Lori Schappell from before George’s coming out that uses a female pronoun for him, something Assigned did not find in other coverage of the Shappells’ deaths.
This repeated use of “Reba” diverges sharply from other reporting on the twins deaths, but that’s just part of the story. The obituary has undergone significant changes from the version that initially appeared on their website on April 22. In the earliest version available through the Internet Archive, George Schappell was repeatedly misgendered, as well as misnamed. The collective noun “sisters” was used to describe him and his sister Lori on four separate occasions and he was referred to with female pronouns twice.
screenshot from the New York Times
All female pronouns outside of quotes, as well as the use of “sisters,” quietly disappeared from the obituary on April 23rd, at or around the same time as an acknowledged correction dealing with the misspelling of a name. However, despite the efforts by advocates at GLAAD, the NYT declined to update the repeated uses of George’s previous name.
Referencing their efforts, a spokesperson from GLAAD wrote, "When we heard the news of George & Lori Schappell's deaths, we monitored obituaries for accuracy around George, who was transgender. By and large, mainstream media treated George and his identity factually and respectfully, with one exception: the New York Times. The Times did make some corrections in their obituary, including removing harmful instances of misgendering. But it is troubling to see the Times continue a pattern of bias and inaccuracy in trans obituaries, leaving multiple instances of George's deadname in their coverage of his life, leaving his obituary inaccurate. We all deserve to be memorialized accurately."
It’s still not clear why the NYT was willing to change some aspects of the obituary, but balked at updating references to George’s former name. Contacted for comment, Managing Director of External Communications Charlie Stadtlander wrote, "In the obituary for Mr. Schappell and his sister, our writer and editors took great care to reflect the scope of his life and honor the breadth of his pursuits, including the time spent performing music under a chosen stage name. The article portrays this time of his life with appropriate context and quoted references specific to these performances. While we agree this is a complex scenario to portray with clarity to readers, ultimately we have reviewed the publication, and subsequently made changes for more clarity to the reader. We find that it meets our standards and style guide, and is sensitive to Mr. Schappell’s life and identity.”
Stadtlander further provided Assigned Media with the portion of the NYT style guide dealing with coverage of transgender people:
transgender is an overall term for people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth, whether or not they have changed their biological characteristics. Cite a person’s transgender status only when it is pertinent and its pertinence is clear to the reader. Use the name, courtesy title and pronouns used by the transgender person.
Referring to an individual’s former name, or deadname, is offensive and requires a thorough discussion between reporter and editor. In some cases, such a reference may be necessary to provide a full picture to readers -- for example, in the obituary of a person known for newsworthy accomplishments under the former name. But generally do not use the name more than once in an article, and ensure that the pertinence of the name is clear to readers. Avoid such references in display and social copy. When referring to an individual’s early experiences, use phrases like assigned male/female at birth or raised as a boy/girl, not born a boy/girl.
Many readers remain unfamiliar with other terms of gender identity, including cisgender and nonbinary. When such terms are necessary, include a brief explanation. Special care is required in writing about those who do not identify as male or female and who use nontraditional courtesy titles (like Mx.) or nontraditional pronouns (like the singular they to refer to an individual, or other variants). Do not impose a pronoun or courtesy title that the subject rejects; at the same time, take care to avoid confusion for readers. In many cases, pronouns and courtesy titles can be gracefully avoided altogether. If not, deftly explain the nontraditional usage. Take particular care to avoid confusion if using they for an individual.
We’ve chosen to reproduce the style guide excerpt without emphasizing any portion of it in bold or italics. However, in the email we received from Stadtlander, one sentence appeared in bold. Specifically, “In some cases, such a reference may be necessary to provide a full picture to readers -- for example, in the obituary of a person known for newsworthy accomplishments under the former name.”
The immediately following sentence, however, was not bolded. That one reads, “But generally do not use the name more than once in an article, and ensure that the pertinence of the name is clear to readers.”
Taking both sentences together, nine uses of George Schappell’s former name would seem to represent a significant departure from the guidance of the style guide which suggests that a previous name should not be used more than one time. This approach is roughly similar to how news outlets other than the NYT referenced this period of George’s life. It remains unclear why the NYT’s initial obituary diverged so drastically from the style guide, and why, despite some changes to bring it closer to standard news coverage of transgender public figures, it continues to do so now.
Evan Urquhart is the founder of Assigned Media and an incoming member of the 2024-2025 Knight Science Journalism fellowship class at MIT.