NBC Washington shows what happens when news outlets fail to confirm the correct gender identity of their subjects before publication. The outlet has just posted another story about the two shoplifting suspects who were shot by police near the University of Maryland last Friday. Here’s the absurd lede:

Upon closer review, it appears two shoplifting suspects shot by a Prince George’s County police officer weren’t men, as originally reported, or cross-dressers, as was later reported, but transgender women.

The third time is the charm for NBC, who took four days to get the gender identity of the suspects right. NBC does one better on the Washington Post, at least. The Post first reported that the suspects were women, then reported that they were cross-dressing men, and finally issued the vague and misleading clarification that they were men dressed as women who “were not in disguise.”

Read More “Transgender Shoplifting Story Inspires Absurd Corrections” »

Yesterday, the Washington Post published a story about two shoplifting suspects who were shot over the weekend by a Prince George’s County police officer. The suspects were shot after they attempted to drive away with the officer’s arm lodged in the door of their getaway car. But the Post story was not concerned with the facts of this botched escape—the newspaper had already covered the particulars of the incident a day earlier. The follow-up amounted to a lengthy correction of one fact: the gender of the wounded suspects.

Read More “The Washington Post Cross-Dressing Shoplifting Story Misfires” »

On July 30, a $2,400 Chanel dress was stolen from a Chevy Chase Saks Fifth Avenue store. In a surprising twist—

—the suspect was gender non-conforming! Police, flummoxed, described the thief as “A black man or woman, in his/her 20s, 6 [feet] tall, weighing 160 to 190 pounds. His/her long black hair was worn in thin braids and pulled back. The suspect was wearing a black and white, checked very short mini-dress with long sleeves and a wide belt at the waist. The shoes worn by the suspect were flat sandals.”

On Aug. 10, 20-year-old Jonathan Bradley was arrested in D.C. during a “routine traffic stop,” and charged with the theft. Bradley was, again, wearing women’s clothing, though—ever the master illusionist!—his driver’s license read “male.” Here’s Bradley in a police photo, after being picked up:

Read More “Cross-Dressing Thief Commits Perfect Crime!” »

* Hot on the heels of G. Keith Harris: Another guy claiming to have inauguration tickets wants you to be his date. This 46-year-old writes, “I got the call today from a Senator that I have a relationship with for over 10 years that told me I made “The A List”. So far at my table is Ben Affleck and Mary J and I will know more as the time nears.”

* Local GLBT groups are planning their own inaugural ball at the Mayflower Hotel, Metro Weekly reports.

*  Slate’s Dear Prudence doles out advice on dads who cross-dress. Hide it:

If your husband lounges around at home every night in a bustier, palazzo pants, and a wig, then I’m voting for repression. It’s time for your husband to limit his dressing up to times when he’s not with the baby. As your child gets older and mobile, your husband will have to take more steps to separate his fetish from your family life. Perhaps he will need to check into a motel occasionally when he just can’t stifle the need to dress up as Madonna.

* File under “busted”: Did Elizabeth Frisinger really accidentally text her dad on the occasion of losing her virginity? Follow-up: Did her friend really leak her photo and iphone screen capture to a radio station? Do you really text anyone on the occasion of losing your virginity? Doesn’t Lizzy’s dad seem kind of cool, under the circumstances? He texts!

Photo via trialsanderrors.