The New York Times has responded to an open letter published by GLAAD that called on the newspaper to “stop printing biased anti-trans stories,” meet with trans leaders and listen to them, and hire “trans writers and editors.” Their response came within hours of the open letter’s publication. Broadly, the newspaper’s message is that it stands by its coverage of trans issues. Here’s the full text of the response:

We received the open letter delivered by GLAAD and welcome their feedback. We understand how GLAAD and the co-signers of the letter see our coverage. But at the same time, we recognize that GLAAD's advocacy mission and The Times's journalistic mission are different.

As a news organization, we pursue independent reporting on transgender issues that include profiling groundbreakers in the movement, challenges and prejudice faced by the community, and how society is grappling with debates about care.

The very news stories criticized in their letter reported deeply and empathetically on issues of care and well-being for trans teens and adults. Our journalism strives to explore, interrogate and reflect the experiences, ideas and debates in society - to help readers understand them. Our reporting did exactly that and we're proud of it.

The GLAAD letter, signed by over 200 “journalists, New York Times contributors,” “organizations,” and “notables” alludes to or explicitly mentions recent NYT reporting and opinion on trans issues such as —