National Geographic Breaks Glass Ceiling With Transgender Cover Girl

By: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

The timing of the history making cover coincides with a new documentary

WASHINGTON, D.C – In what the LGBTQ community as well as the so called mainstream marketplace are touting about is the fact that the National Geographic Magazine is putting out its first ever transgender person on the January 2017 issue in the history since its founding in 1888.

“The best thing about being a girl is, now I don’t have to pretend to be a boy,” said Jackson in a caption accompanying the cover photo which was shot by photographer Robin Hammond.

The new “Gender Revolution” issue hits newsstands nationwide on Tuesday Dec. 27 and will take you into the transgender insight of “biological, cultural, personal and social” aspects of gender identity. An outstanding photo of 9-year-old Avery Jackson capturing the cover of the subscriber’s edition of the magazine (pictured below) is fantastic.

The press release issued by the National Geographic’s history making announcement, it stated that the issue includes “Dangerous Lives of Girls” which takes you into the lives of young women in Sierra Leone, and “Rethinking Gender”. There they examine how science can help “navigate the shifting landscape of gender identity.”

Speaking with NBC News, National Geographic’s Editor-in-Chief Susan Goldberg said “Our magazine’s staff was inspired by gender’s omnipresence in the national conversation in creating the issue.” said Goldberg. “We wanted to look at how traditional gender roles play out all over the world, but also look into gender as a spectrum,” Goldberg said. “There’s lots of coverage on celebrities, but there wasn’t an understanding on real people and the issues we face every day in classrooms or workplaces in regards to gender.” said Goldberg.

The National Geographic “Gender Revolution” issue comes out just ahead of the release of the two-hour documentary entitled, “Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric,” (2017).

The documentary Couric is hosting will cover “everything you wanted to know about gender but were afraid to ask,” said Couric. “Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric,” is set to premier on the National Geographic Channel on Feb. 6, 2017. Check your local listings.