Christina Jewett is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Jewett co-wrote a scaremongering New York Times article about healthcare for trans and gender diverse youth titled “They Paused Puberty, but Is There a Cost?” The piece helped spark a newsroom revolt against management during the Times’ 2020s anti-trans coverage crisis.
Background
Christina D. Jewett was born on May 11, 1980 and grew up in Griffith, Indiana. Jewett earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 2002. Jewett reported for the Sacramento Bee from 2002 to 2008, ProPublica from 2008 to 2009, and the Center for Investigative Reporting from 2009 to 2016. Jewett was then a correspondent for Kaiser Health News from 2016 to 2021 before joining the New York Times as a correspondent focusing on federal healthcare regulation in 2021.
Jewett married Floyd Charles Marvin III (born October 18, 1974). They have two children.
Anti-trans activism
While writing for Kaiser, Jewett began reporting on cisgender people who believe puberty blockers which they took as minors led to short- and long-term adverse side effects. Children whose puberty starts at 5 to 8 years old often face social problems, and those capable of pregnancy are at higher risk of sexual harassment and assault. Doctors work with parents to weigh the risks and benefits before getting informed consent. As with any medical treatment, some people will be harmed more than they were helped.
In 2022, Megan Twohey and Jewett co-wrote a New York Times article on puberty blockers for gender diverse youth that culminated in a 2023 newsroom revolt against Times leadership.
The story is about “emerging evidence of potential harm” and the “long-term physical effects and other consequences” of Lupron and other medications that can manage onset of puberty. Any drug carries a risk of side effects, which the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tracks via adverse event reports. FDA approved Lupron for central precocious puberty in 1993. It has since been used for trans and gender diverse youth experiencing unwanted puberty. Doctors have wide latitude to use approved drugs “off label,” including use to delay puberty for trans and gender diverse youth.
Focusing on uncommon side effects and unknown risks is a long-used pretense to restrict or ban contraception and abortion, especially for minors. For more information, see this site’s analysis of “They Paused Puberty, but Is There a Cost?”
References
Klein, Charlotte (February 27, 2023). Inside the New York Times blowup over transgender coverage. Vanity Fair https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/02/new-york-times-trans-coverage-debate
Jones, Imara (July 17, 2023). S02E05: Capturing The New York Times. The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: A Plot Against Equality https://translash.org/transcript-capturing-the-new-york-times/
Oladipo, Gloria (February 18, 2023). Nearly 1,000 contributors protest New York Times’ coverage of trans people. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/17/new-york-times-contributors-open-letter-protest-anti-trans-coverage
Wulfsohn, Joseph A. (November 15, 2022). New York Times story on puberty blockers fuels critics amid trans debate: ‘Decade late on this story.’ Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-york-times-story-puberty-blockers-fuels-critics-amid-trans-debate-decade-late-story
Duffy, Kaiyti (November 29, 2022). Recent Anti-Trans Articles Miss the Point of Gender-Affirming Care. Teen Vogue https://www.teenvogue.com/story/recent-anti-trans-articles-miss-the-point-of-gender-affirming-care
Thiesen, Lauren (November 15, 2022). How Many Trans People Does The New York Times Believe There Should Be? Defector https://defector.com/how-many-trans-people-does-the-new-york-times-believe-there-should-be
Bolies, Corbin (March 7, 2023). The New York Times’ Trans Coverage Debacle Was Years in the Making. The Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-new-york-times-trans-coverage-debacle-was-years-in-the-making
Reilly, Patrick (February 15, 2023). New York Times accused of ‘editorial bias’ in coverage of transgender issues. New York Post https://nypost.com/2023/02/15/new-york-times-blasted-for-editorial-bias-in-transgender-coverage/
Eckert, AJ. What the New York Times gets wrong about puberty blockers for transgender youth. Science-Based Medicine https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/what-the-new-york-times-gets-wrong-about-puberty-blockers-for-transgender-youth/
USPATH and WPATH respond to NY Times article “They Paused Puberty, But Is There a Cost? published on November 14, 2022 (PDF). https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2022/USPATHWPATH%20Statement%20re%20Nov%2014%202022%20NYT%20Article%20Nov%2022%202022.pdf
Eckert, AJ (December 4, 2022). What the New York Times gets wrong about puberty blockers for transgender youth. Science Based Medicine https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/what-the-new-york-times-gets-wrong-about-puberty-blockers-for-transgender-youth/
Sonoma, Sirena (April 19, 2023). The New York Times’ Inaccurate Coverage of Transgender People is Being Weaponized Against the Transgender Community. GLAAD https://glaad.org/new-york-times-inaccurate-coverage-transgender-people-being-weaponized-against-transgender/
Rook, Erin (November 18, 2022). Reckless NY Times reporting fuels disinformation about trans youth. LGBTQ Nation https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/11/reckless-ny-times-reporting-fuels-disinformation-trans-youth/
Urquhart, Evan (November 17, 2022). The NYT’s big piece on puberty blockers mucked up the most important point about them. Slate https://slate.com/technology/2022/11/puberty-blockers-side-effects-controversy.html
Migdon, Brooke (February 15, 2023). NYT contributors blast paper’s coverage of transgender people. The Hill. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/3859501-nyt-contributors-blast-papers-coverage-of-transgender-people/
Warrington, James (February 16, 2023). How the New York Times was engulfed by a trans culture war. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/02/15/new-york-times-accused-writers-anti-trans-bigotry/
Twohey, Megan; Jewett, Christina (November 14, 2022). They Paused Puberty, but Is There a Cost? New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/health/puberty-blockers-transgender.html
Staff report (October 13, 2021). Stephen Jewett. Northwest Indiana Times https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/stephen-jewett/article_00853351-ee9a-5bcd-be8b-b04c4c64b3ac.html
Resources
New York Times (nytimes.com)
- Christina Jewett
- https://www.nytimes.com/by/christina-jewett
Twitter (twitter.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)