On Friday, March 10, the El Aviso included a students thoughts segment where they asked students what they thought about Trump’s “two gender” policy. This was in reference to Trump’s January 22 executive order stating that the federal government will only recognize two genders, male and female. The segment went on to interview students and staff with liberal viewpoints, but, also, and here’s the issue, students with transphobic viewpoints.

There are numerous issues with the segment, from the blatant transphobia, to the lack of journalistic integrity, to the possible effects it could have on Granada. Let’s start with the most obvious one: the transphobia. Three students were interviewed that stated blatantly transphobic things. It wasn’t just a difference of opinion or a “different perspective,” it was simply transphobic. All three of the students concurred with the point that there are only two genders with one going on to claim trans people are “making up” their identity and that trans athletes should get out of sports “that don’t belong to them.”

Making statements like these contributes to the growing culture of transphobia and normalizes the behavior. This could make other people at Granada with similar thoughts feel that what they think is not only correct but that they should express it. In a school environment, especially one that claims to promote pride, respect, integrity, diversity, and excellence, you must be intolerant to the intolerance. Allowing hateful rhetoric fosters a hostile, and possibly dangerous, atmosphere on campus for transgender students.

While I’m upset about this as a member of the trans community, I’m even more upset about this as a journalist. Because the people who create the El Aviso are journalists, whether they realize it or not; has anybody ever heard of broadcast journalism in this school? Those responsible for the nonsense that was last week’s El Aviso should know that it is their job to fact-check whatever is said on their show. Saying that there are only two genders is not an opinion, it’s a factually incorrect statement.

Besides the ineptitude of those creating the show, they should also know that student journalists do not have the same rights or liberties as real journalists. Granada’s Studio Broadcast is not CNN, they do not get to talk about whatever they want. Anything created by a class such as Studio Broadcast should not be promoting discourse on campus, and the school has every right to tell them that because this is a high school! This is not a man-on-the-street evening news segment showing you the real world. The staff of the El Aviso do not have the right to say or do whatever they want.

The fact that anybody on the El Aviso thought this was a good idea is baffling, and the lack of outrage is even more confusing. If they were to create a segment where they went around campus and asked students if they believed that whales were real, and then several students said, “no, whales aren’t real,” everybody would say it was ridiculous. It’s a fact that whales exist just like it’s a fact that transgender people exist.

Just because they also interviewed people with “liberal” viewpoints doesn’t make it better. This isn’t a scenario where a positive cancels out a negative; especially when you’re talking about people’s right to exist. If a news show invited on a Nazi, but then decided to invite on a Jewish person to make it fair, that still wouldn’t make it better that they invited on a Nazi. There is no debate over human rights and for the El Aviso to portray it that way is wrong.

This situation demonstrates a bigger issue with the El Aviso. Specifically, there is an issue with the person who is supposedly in charge of approving segments. It is clear that the people who are a part of Studio Broadcast are not being taught proper journalism ethics. If they were, they would have known that this is a segment that they could not air. Also, it’s part of the job, or at least should be, of the teacher in charge of Studio Broadcast to approve the El Aviso. The allowance of this segment gives us a few possibilities: the person responsible for allowing it agrees with the people in the El Aviso, they don’t see the issue with airing these thoughts, or they didn’t even watch the El Aviso. No matter which theory you go with, it’s all bad.

By the staff of the Studio Broadcast allowing this segment, they are normalizing transphobia. One student, who prefers to be anonymous, was in her English class when the El Aviso was shown. According to the student, “[after watching] the El Aviso…[the teacher] said [she] only accepts two genders, boys and girls in this class. That riled up all the [other] students.” Students in the class went on to make transphobic comments with no response from the teacher, who I also can not name, which our interviewee found surprising and upsetting.

Imagine if there was a student in that class who was struggling with their gender identity, and they heard her and other students be openly transphobic. Do you think that person is going to find the strength to come out? We’ve just given them even more reason to be afraid of their peers as well as showing them which adults they can’t trust. This segment is actively creating an unfriendly school environment, which is unfair to transgender students and all other students who are disturbed by this issue.

While the El Aviso is not the fault of the administration, inaction on their part would show us what side they are on. They need to make it clear to the students in Studio Broadcast that there are rules on what they can and can not do. If you don’t see why the actions of the El Aviso and the viewpoints shared on the show are wrong, then I don’t know what to say to you. It will always be wrong to support and promote bigoted ideas.

If we are to believe that Granada is a safe and friendly environment for all people then events like this can not pass without repercussions. We can not just ask for change, we must demand change. If you are somebody that agrees with me, then I suggest you tell the school, either through the tipline found on the school website or emailing your vice principal or Principal Conover.