08/20/2026
Tell the Gazette to stop publishing transphobic hate speech!
The Gazette publishes op-eds at its will and discretion already, frequently having refused to publish pro-Palestine voices in its pages. The Gazette has a responsibility to clarify its position on permissible material and to stop feeding into vitriolic anti-trans discrimination.
Sign onto the petition below at https://forms.gle/mthQR1AEFh9irmkh7
or the link in our story.
On July 9th, the Daily Hampshire Gazette published a guest column that espoused hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric about transgender people. This is far from the first time the Gazette has platformed hate speech on their editorial page. This most recent incident is the third such guest column by the same author within the past three years. Four days later, the Gazette published a follow-up letter targeting transgender women.
The editorial board of the Daily Hampshire Gazette has broad discretion over the letters they publish. As the 'paper of record' for Northampton and the broader Connecticut River Valley, we believe that the Gazette must be accountable to the communities that it serves. As such, we present three demands to the Daily Hampshire Gazette to address this pattern of publishing hate speech:
1. A formal apology and commitment to redress the harm done
2. A rescission of the articles in question, and
3. To develop and implement a hate speech policy wherein articles that fail to meet agreed upon community standards are not published
We choose what kind of community we are, and we the undersigned choose to stand against hate speech.
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Anti-trans hate letters published since the start of this petition:
July 9th, 2026...........Judith Schiavone: Women's rights are human rights
July 28th, 2026.........Jenna Wikler: Women's rights are non-negotiable
July 29th, 2026..........Paige Bridgens: Women will continue speaking
August 13th, 2026.....Lisa Black: Criticism isn't hatred
