A Des Moines television reporter announced this week on a newscast that she will now publicly identify as a transgender woman.
Nora J.S. Reichardt of WOI-TV said that for a long time she didn’t think she would be able to reveal her identity on air. "I didn’t know if there was a place and a space for me to do this sort of work that I’ve really come to love and enjoy, while also getting to be myself while I do it," she said on the same day that she officially filed for a name change with the Iowa courts.
She is not the first reporter to make that announcement. ESPN journalist M.A. Voepel announced in a tweet in August that he is transitioning and would use male pronouns.
In an interview with a friend who is a former reporter for the station, Reichardt said she had thoughts about being transgender in high school.