In the recently released November issue of OutSmart, we published a book review of Julia Serano’s Excluded, which dealt with issues pertaining to the transgender community. Although the piece was run through our normal editing process, the extreme insensitivity of the review did not come to our attention until after publication. For this, we truly apologize.
As soon as we realized we had erred, the review was removed from our website immediately. At OutSmart, our goal is to be informative, not harmful, and to build bridges between members of the LGBT community, not to create divisions. OutSmart aims for the highest level of inclusivity and has utmost respect for all of our readers, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. It is very apparent that this incident does not reflect that goal.
After holding a staff editorial meeting on Tuesday, November 12, we have taken steps to ensure that this type of mistake will not occur again. We thoroughly appreciate the feedback the community has given us regarding this piece. Listening to each of your experiences with the review is the first step to fixing the issue. Whenever we let our readers down, we always strive to use the situation as an educational moment to improve the magazine, its content, and ourselves.
Again, our sincerest apologies to those we have offended. We thank everyone who continues to support our publication and help us grow.
Sincerely,
Greg Jeu
Publisher
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