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From the Florida Times-Union:
Funeral of note
Quite a buzz was generated by Wednesday's Metro-front story about the funeral of a 27-year-old transsexual, who graduated from Orange Park High School as Jeffrey Bryan Schley and later became Anna Alexandre.
The paper gave more attention to Schley's passing than it typically does for many in Jacksonville who are vastly more accomplished and more prominent, if not more interesting.
A paid obituary on Sunday for Jeffery (Anna) Bryan Schley had used the pronoun "he" to describe the deceased, but an accompanying photo appeared to be of a woman.
The paid notice contained no mention of the journey from shy student to drag queen to a transsexual who became a porn star. No mention of the Web site with images of the changed body or bawdy performances in Las Vegas and elsewhere that led to Schley being listed among Wikipedia's top transsexual porn stars.
The story trotted out those details and told of her acceptance when she returned to Jacksonville two years ago and of the closeness of her family and how her parents got used to having a daughter around. "They called her Annie," the story said.
Some readers praised the story, including Schley's brother, for the respect it showed the transgender community and one of its prominent members. Others were sharply critical.
"A disgrace," is how Sally Lane described the story. "This paper seems to be pushing sexual stuff on kids." She was among the readers who wondered why the story was even in the Times-Union to start with.
"That's about the worst thing I have ever seen in the Times-Union," said Jack Allen, who reads the newspaper with his 9-year-old grandson who had questions about the story. "I don't see how that is news," Allen said. "It is inappropriate for a family newspaper."
Although the story gave a glimpse into a very real part of our community and was reported well, it should have been placed on an inside page, in my view.
Funeral of note
Quite a buzz was generated by Wednesday's Metro-front story about the funeral of a 27-year-old transsexual, who graduated from Orange Park High School as Jeffrey Bryan Schley and later became Anna Alexandre.
The paper gave more attention to Schley's passing than it typically does for many in Jacksonville who are vastly more accomplished and more prominent, if not more interesting.
A paid obituary on Sunday for Jeffery (Anna) Bryan Schley had used the pronoun "he" to describe the deceased, but an accompanying photo appeared to be of a woman.
The paid notice contained no mention of the journey from shy student to drag queen to a transsexual who became a porn star. No mention of the Web site with images of the changed body or bawdy performances in Las Vegas and elsewhere that led to Schley being listed among Wikipedia's top transsexual porn stars.
The story trotted out those details and told of her acceptance when she returned to Jacksonville two years ago and of the closeness of her family and how her parents got used to having a daughter around. "They called her Annie," the story said.
Some readers praised the story, including Schley's brother, for the respect it showed the transgender community and one of its prominent members. Others were sharply critical.
"A disgrace," is how Sally Lane described the story. "This paper seems to be pushing sexual stuff on kids." She was among the readers who wondered why the story was even in the Times-Union to start with.
"That's about the worst thing I have ever seen in the Times-Union," said Jack Allen, who reads the newspaper with his 9-year-old grandson who had questions about the story. "I don't see how that is news," Allen said. "It is inappropriate for a family newspaper."
Although the story gave a glimpse into a very real part of our community and was reported well, it should have been placed on an inside page, in my view.
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