Looking at this photo, who exactly is mistaking one of these Chicago Sun-Times journalists for the other one? There's more than a foot difference in height, for one thing. Ellery Jones, the innovation editor at the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ, says that he's often mistaken for journalist Violet Miller, who may or may not be trans — the story doesn't mention if Miller is, but Miller's Reddit profile has a trans flag and she/her pronouns. Jones refers to her as a woman, but we know what that's worth. We think this is a saga of "all trans women look the same."
A Chicago Sun-Times journalist keeps getting mistaken for her trans colleague and has a theory: Most Americans just don't know enough trans women to tell them apart. https://t.co/lKn5CYAgMm
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) April 15, 2026
Jones writes:
Many of my nonwhite friends and co-workers are intimately familiar with the cross-race effect. It's a well-documented phenomenon: People tend to have a much easier time differentiating between faces within their own race or ethnic group.
But I've found it also applies to transgender people, and trans women in particular. Violet is not the only woman for whom I am frequently mistaken. This happens at church, on the street, at professional conferences — even the hair salon, where recently another customer insisted that we had talked for nearly an hour at a party I definitely did not go to.
The exact cause of the cross-race effect isn't settled science, but I've noticed some trends in my personal life. I don't think these mistakes come from a place of malice or transphobia. Frequently, people give me compliments that are meant for Violet and vice versa.
The common theme in my experience? Most people just don't know any trans women.
Maybe because there aren't as many trans women as we've been led to believe.
A Chicago Sun-Times journalist keeps getting mistaken for his colleague and has a theory: Most Americans look at two men pretending to be women and cannot tell them apart.
— Libs Of Chicago (@Libs_OfChicago) April 15, 2026
There are no trans women. But there are men pretending to be women. These are known as men.
— Stephen Spurling Is... @Drangula (@Drangula) April 15, 2026
Where do your readers go for the news, Chicago Sun-Times? pic.twitter.com/I0Jzmf3gOE
When you guys go out of business, they both can pretend to be women at Starbucks.
— “you can’t hate the media enough” (@UpLakeBorder76) April 15, 2026
They're very tolerant of that stuff.
And that, my friends, when it is what passes for journalism these days, is why no one reads newspapers anymore.
— (((The Shalom Ranger))) (@GaryBrussell24) April 15, 2026
"One column that crossed my desk recently claimed that trans women can’t orgasm .... I have a hard time believing the author would write that if she sat next to me at work every day."
— O Great One (@ogre81) April 15, 2026
WTF is this weirdo DOING at work?
People wonder why newspapers are dying in this country.
— NM Vet (@vet_nm) April 15, 2026
This clown paper called the Chicago Sun-Times is a prime example of why.
They can't be serious?
— Fabe (@albarran_fabian) April 15, 2026
It’s easy, they look like guys.
— Mix MC (@MickNotWoke) April 15, 2026
Nor do we give a flying f*ck.
— Caveman 🇺🇸 (@IrishGuy_USA) April 15, 2026
Get over yourself and accept that you are not worthy of anyone's attention.
The short one is trans, right?
— FunkyKazoo (@KazooFunky) April 15, 2026
That's the impression that we're getting, hence the "people don't know enough trans women to tell them apart." We can tell them apart from women.
They are both fugly men.
— Scottie Binyons (@B82Scottie) April 15, 2026
LMAO we can tell, trust
— Feely (@MaureenGalliga3) April 15, 2026
— RLD Jr (@rldesmondjr) April 15, 2026
So, the solution to this critical problem is to get to know more trans women. How will we know they're trans? Trans women are women, including those who can't stop talking about how they're trans.
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