American writer and blogger
Parker Molloy (born April 24, 1986) is an American writer and blogger. Molloy was an editorial and news contributor to
Advocate.com , focusing on transgender issues. She has also written for other publications, such as
Media Matters for America .
[3]
Early life
Molloy grew up in
Manhattan, Illinois . After graduating from
Lincoln-Way Central High School in
New Lenox in 2004, she attended
Millikin University in
Decatur, Illinois for three years before transferring to
Columbia College Chicago where she graduated in 2009 in Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management.
[4] During college, Molloy was an editorial intern at
Pitchfork Media .
[5]
Career
Molloy briefly worked for Chicago musician
Andrew Bird
[6] before taking a job at a Chicago-based ad agency.
[7] In 2013, she came out to management and her co-workers as
transgender .
[8]
Molloy launched parkthatcar.net in July 2012 as a way to document her ongoing transition.
[9] As time went on, the blog focused less on Molloy's personal transition, and more on transgender politics and current events.
In 2014,
Thought Catalog released Molloy's
ebook entitled My Transgender Coming Out Story .
[10]
On March 2, 2014, Molloy was interviewed by
Chicagoist ,
[11] concerning
Piers Morgan 's interview with
Janet Mock
[12] and the death of Anne Vanderbilt,
[13] allegedly resulting from an article posted on
Grantland .
[14]
Molloy has written for
Rolling Stone ,
The Huffington Post , and
Salon , and
The Advocate .
[15]
[16]
[17] She has been a panelist for the
National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association annual national convention
[18] and her input as a transgender journalist has been sought after by the
Washington Post ,
[19]
The Week ,
[20]
The Boston Globe ,
[21] and
Autostraddle .
[22]
Honors and awards
Molloy was included in the second annual
Trans 100 list, recognizing the work of 100 transgender advocates in the United States, announced at the launch event, March 30, 2014 in Chicago.
[23]
[24]
[25] On June 26, 2014, Molloy was named to
Windy City Times ' annual "30 Under 30" list, honoring "the best in LGBTQIA activism, business, culture, non-profit work and more,"
[26] and honored at a reception at Chicago's
Center on Halsted .
Molloy was nominated for a 2014
National Women's Political Caucus Exceptional Merit in Media Award for an essay she wrote in October 2013, titled, "I am a Transgender Woman, and This is What It's Like."
[27]
On November 5, 2014, Molloy was named as a finalist for the Los Angeles Press Club's National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards
[28] for her work discussing
drag culture 's use of
language seen by her and former contestants on
RuPaul's Drag Race to be transphobic.
[29]
Controversy
On March 18, 2014, Molloy wrote an article titled "RuPaul Stokes Anger with Use of Transphobic Slur" at
The Advocate .
[30] The article and others
[31] discussing the use of the word
tranny sparked a conversation about its use by
RuPaul and others.
[32] Molloy was criticized by prominent transgender activists
Calpernia Addams ,
[33]
[34]
Justin Vivian Bond ,
[35]
Andrea James ,
[36]
Our Lady J ,
[37] as well as drag artists RuPaul
[38] and
Alaska , a former contestant on
RuPaul's Drag Race , who made a parody video depicting Molloy being shot in the head.
[39]
Molloy's position was supported by
Logo TV , the network airing RuPaul's Drag Race , which apologized for the use of transphobic language
[40] and by
GLAAD .
[41] Molloy was supported in an open letter, drafted by
Zinnia Jones and signed by
Sarah Brown ,
Fallon Fox ,
Christina Kahrl , and over 350 other transgender people, against what they perceived as personal attacks by Addams and James.
[42]
[43]
In August 2014 Molloy faced a backlash from members of the trans community after encouraging another transgender person to self-harm. Molloy apologized.
[44]
[45]
References
^
"Trans activist: 'Windy City Times 30 Under 30 to be honored June 26' " . Windy City Times . June 25, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-24 .
^
"Trans activist: '2014 Trans 100 Includes CeCe McDonald, Fallon Fox' " . Windy City Times. April 1, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-24 .
^ Molloy, Parker (January 31, 2019).
"How a myth about journalists telling miners to 'learn to code' helped people justify harassment" .
Media Matters for America . Archived from
the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2020 .
^
"My Transgender Coming Out Story" . Thought Catalog. 1 August 2014.
^
"Says the woman whose first journalism job was as an editorial intern at Pitchfork" .
^
"On Being Too Old For Music Festivals" . Thought Catalog. 21 July 2014.
^
"Stories written by Parker Marie Molloy" .
^
"What It's Like To Come Out As Transgender At Work" . Thought Catalog. 13 July 2013.
^
"Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that" . Archived from
the original on 2014-11-04. Retrieved 2014-08-01 .
^ Parker Marie Molloy (February 25, 2014).
My Transgender Coming Out Story . Thought Catalog.
ISBN
9781629210605 .
^ Graef, Jon (March 2, 2014).
"INTERVIEW: The Advocate's Parker Marie Molloy on Grantland, Piers Morgan, and More" . Gothamist. Archived from
the original on March 12, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^ McDonough, Katie (February 5, 2014).
"Piers Morgan grills trans activist Janet Mock with invasive, sensationalist questions" . Salon. Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^ Finnerty, Megan (January 27, 2014).
"Friend blames timing of Gilbert inventor's suicide on fear of impending article" . Arizona Republic. Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^ Hannan, Caleb (January 15, 2014).
"Dr. V's Magical Putter" . Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^
"3 Signs We Have a Long Way to Go on Trans Rights" . Rolling Stone . 2015-01-13. Archived from
the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2017-09-07 .
^
"Transgender" . The Huffington Post .
^ Molloy, Parker Marie (2013-08-23).
"The happy story of my transgender coming-out" . Salon.com .
^
Transgender Journalists and Transgender Coverage in LGBT Media
Archived 2014-11-08 at
archive.today , August 21, 2014
^ Dewey, Caitlin (August 22, 2013).
"Trans activists scrutinize Pvt. Manning coverage" . The Washington Post . Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^
"Born in the wrong body: The transgender struggle" . The Week . September 29, 2013. Archived from
the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^ Johnson, Maura (December 31, 2014).
"Transgender teen Leelah Alcorn: 'My death needs to mean something' " . The Boston Globe . Retrieved January 5, 2015 .
^ Brighe, Mari (September 29, 2014).
"Please Stop Saying That Trans Women Were "Born Boys" " . Autostraddle. Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^
"About" . 19 July 2015.
^
"2014 Trans 100 Includes CeCe McDonald, Fallon Fox" . The Advocate . 31 March 2014.
^
2014 Trans 100 Booklet
Archived 2014-09-08 at the
Wayback Machine
^
"Windy City Times 30 Under 30 to be honored June 26 - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News Archive" . Windy City Times . June 25, 2014.
^
"2014 Exceptional Merit in Media Awards (EMMAs) Nominees" . National Women's Political Caucus. Archived from
the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2015 .
^
"Los Angeles Press Club 7th National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards – 2014 Finalists" (PDF) . Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2014-11-08 .
^ Molloy, Parker (April 17, 2014).
"Is the T Word the New N Word?" . The Advocate. Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^
"RuPaul Stokes Anger With Use of Transphobic Slur" . The Advocate . 18 March 2014.
^ Molloy, Parker (November 25, 2013).
"Gay Dudes, Can You Just Not?" . The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^ Ginelle, Leela (December 13, 2013).
"Parker Marie Molloy Elaborates on "Gay Dudes, Can You Just Not?" " .
PQ Monthly . Archived from the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014 . {{
cite news }}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link )
^ Addams, Calpernia (2 April 2014).
"Calpernia Addams Responds To Trans Advocate.com Writer Who Misgendered Her" .
HuffPost . The Huffington Post.
^
"Op-ed: Burning Books, One Word at a Time" . Advocate. 17 April 2014.
^ Bond, Mx Justin Vivian.
"About the Word "Tranny" " . The Stranger.
^ James, Andrea (4 April 2014).
"I F*cking Hate @RuPaul" . Boing Boing.
^ J, Our Lady (14 April 2014).
"RuPaul's Drag Race and the Danger of Overpolicing Language" .
HuffPost . The Huffington Post.
^
"Episode 498 - RuPaul Charles" . WTF Pod. 19 May 2014.
^ Callahan, Kat (April 23, 2014).
"HuffPostGay Posts Offensive Video of Drag Queen Shooting Trans Writer" . Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^ Molloy, Parker (April 14, 2014).
"RuPaul's Drag Race, Logo TV Apologize for Transphobic Slur" . The Advocate . Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^
"Update on "Female or She-male" sketch and 'RuPaul's Drag Race' " . GLAAD. April 14, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^
"Open Letter: 350+ Trans Women and Transfeminine People Stand Against Calpernia Addams and Andrea James - Zinnia Jones" . Free Thought Blogs. 14 April 2014.
^ Jones, Zinnia (April 14, 2014).
"100-Plus Trans Women Stand Against Calpernia Addams and Andrea James: An Open Letter" . The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^
Trans Violence Watchdogs Issue Advisory Warning Against Advocate Writer And Trans Activist Parker Molloy
^
Park That Attitude: The Danger of Trans Activist Parker Marie Molloy
External links