Heroes Star Greg Grunberg Offends Transgender Community on Twitter
December 9, 2009
Heroes star Greg Grunberg recently made took to his Twitter account (@greggrunberg) to make some unfunny and offensive jokes about Chaz Bono, Cher and Sonny Bono’s son who recently came out as transgender.
Grunberg tweeted the following about Chaz:
When called out on these tweets by The Bilerico Project’s Rebecca Juro, Grunberg responded, claiming that his tweets had nothing to do with Chaz’s gender identity, saying:
My comments about Chaz Bono letting himself go had NOTHING to do with the transgender issue. NOTHING. Chaz is overweight as am I and people have jokingly told me that we look alike. I was merely poking fun at that notion. I hope you realize I meant nobody any harm. Lighten up and take good care.- Grunny
We find it difficult to believe Grunberg’s claims that his comments about Chaz Bono had nothing to do with “the transgender issue” when he very clearly used both male and female pronouns in his first tweet. The deliberate use of both pronouns shows more than simply a lack of understanding of gender identity issues and we call on Grunberg to apologize to Chaz and the transgender community for making such insensitive comments on his Twitter account.
If you are on Twitter, please tweet this statement: “@greggrunberg – You owe Chaz Bono and the transgender community an apology.”
While he claims they off-handed comments with no malicious intentions, it is nevertheless important to educate Mr. Grunberg about the harmful effects such comments can have on transgender acceptance.
Related Posts:The Latest on Rockstar Energy Drink
June 30, 2009
Craving an energy drink? Some LGBT family members, friends or colleagues may have told you before to steer clear of Rockstar energy drink due to the beverage company’s alleged connection with fringe anti-gay radio host Michael Savage.
Not familiar with what we’re talking about? Below is a brief recap about the chain of events that sparked this controversy.
- On April 23, The Bilerico Project Guest Blogger Michael Jones posted a story here about the connection between Rockstar energy drink and Michael Savage. The controversial shock jock is known for his offensive diatribes that has previously put him in hot water with LGBT and immigrant community leaders.
- A week later, attorneys for the beverage company threatened Bilerico with legal action for “factual inaccuracies.” You can read about that here.
- Other websites and blogs were contacted by the Rockstar legal team and threatened for similar reasons including thetruthaboutrockstarenergydrink.com, GaySocialites.com, wiqqaable.com, AlterNet and gaywired.com.
- Bloggers continued to follow the story including Daily Kos and The Consumerist.
- The Rockstar attorneys also contacted Facebook over a few groups criticizing the beverage company, which were subsequently shut down for reasons similar to those listed above. Individual Facebook accounts were also deleted. You can read about that here.
In addition to the threats of impending legal action, a website called truthaboutrockstar.com was set up to counter the claims made about the beverage company and its connection to Michael Savage. It looks very similar to the one created by thetruthaboutrockstarenergydrink.com.
Bilerico Founder & Editor-in-Chief Bil Browning
But now, according to Bilerico, the makers of Rockstar want to extend an olive branch to the LGBT community.
On June 28, Bill Browning of Bilerico wrote:
I can easily say that the company is remorseful for their stupid lawyer’s threatening tactics and wants to make good with the LGBT community.
Look for an announcement next week hopefully.
Please stay tuned for more details. GLAAD will continue to monitor this story and post more information as it becomes available.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send me a tweet at @Andy_Marra
Related Posts:National Media Analyze Presidential Memo on Benefit Package for Same-Sex Partners of Federal Employees
June 18, 2009
President Obama signed a memorandum on Wednesday that extends limited benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees.
Among those benefits is the right for a same-sex partner to use American medical facilities abroad as well as the right for a federal employee to take a leave of absence to nurse a sick partner or non-biological child to health.
Healthcare and retirement benefits, however, are precluded from the President’s package leaving some LGBT advocates dissatisfied with both yesterday’s memorandum and the President’s hesitance to fulfill his LGBT campaign promises.
Rachel Maddow covered the breaking news on her MSNBC program this past Tuesday:
An editorial in The New York Times, published on Wednesday, candidly exposed the discrimination rooted in excluding same-sex partners from federal healthcare and retirement packages:
Since benefits are an important part of employment compensation, gay people are effectively being paid less than their heterosexual peers for doing the same work.
The Times went on to clarify that while the new benefits are certainly a mark of progress, it is still “impossible to ignore how much of the glass is not full” and urged President Obama to fulfill his campaign pledges and “work to allow gay people to serve openly in the military and to persuade Congress to bar discrimination against gay people in employment.”
Similarly, in a June 18 article, “Gay Couples Express Hope over Benefits Extension,” The Washington Post profiled three gay and lesbian federal employees, all of whom are hoping for further action on the parts of the President and U.S. congress:
Jamie Price, a lawyer with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said she hopes Obama’s action will “perhaps spur Congress” into approving the bipartisan legislation that would provide domestic partners of federal workers the same benefits as the spouses of federal employees.
President Obama has expressed his full support for such legislation.
Although the President did not directly address transgender people in his speech yesterday, the National Center for Transgender Equality reported on Wednesday that:
Officials [NCTE] spoke with today reconfirmed that the decision is firm that the new guidelines to agencies and departments will make clear that discrimination based on gender identity and expression is forbidden under civil service policies and that the policy will be enforced by this Administration.
The Associated Press reported that John Berry, head of the Office of Personnel Management and the highest ranking gay person in the Obama administration declared yesterday’s memorandum to be “a first step – not a final step” in President Obama’s pursuit of LGBT equality.
The blogosphere is also full of praise and criticism of President Obama’s federal employee memorandum.
Leonard Hirsch penned a thankful note to the Administration on Thursday via Bilerico.com:
Thank you, President Obama and your team (you know who you are). Thank you, Secretary Clinton and GLIFAA (Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies) for taking an important lead on these issues during this Administration.
Though Hirsch goes on to say “We still have much to do for LGBT equality and to eliminate hate, discrimination and harassment in our society and our laws” – a point of clarification that Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, took up in her Huffington Post piece, “Our Moral Imperative.”
In the piece, Carey admonished last week’s Department of Justice brief that defended the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) saying it was “not merely disappointing, it was a public abrogation of the promise of equality the president himself embraced as a candidate.” She goes on to list dozens of policies on which the President can take immediate action in a move toward LGBT equality. Carey does give credit where it is due, echoing White House officials in calling the President’s memorandum ‘a first step’.
Bilerico.com went on to publish the transcripts of yesterday’s White House press briefing with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, during which Press Secretary Gibbs was pressed for answers on several LGBT issues. Among the most noteworthy of responses was one in which a timeline for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was disclosed:
Q: Okay. And on-just one more time on DOMA, “don’t ask, don’t tell” timeline, does the President want to see that overturned in this Congress? I mean, is there a plan to do that in this Congress?
MR. GIBBS: I think, as Senator Reid said, it’s something we can do in this Congress and it’s something that the President is working with members of Congress, working with-on “don’t ask, don’t tell,” working with the Pentagon to ensure that that happens. Yes, ma’am.
GLAAD will continue to monitor media reports of the Obama Administration’s stance and actions on LGBT issues.
If you’re not already, follow us on Twitter!
Related Posts:Local Activists Respond to Anti-Gay Assault in Cincinnati
March 20, 2009
Cincinnati's LGBT community rallied to protest the hate crime yesterday. (Photo by Barry Floore)
Learning about the amazing LGBT media advocacy work local activists in Cincinnati, Ohio, have been accomplishing this week made me prouder than ever of my home town!
Cincinnati is known for its history being one of the least LGBT-friendly large cities in Ohio. And as local community members will tell you, the local media’s LGBT coverage isn’t perfect.
That point was driven home again after I heard that two students at the University of Cincinnati-where my younger brother will attend school next year-were victims of an anti-gay assault.
Local activists wrote at the Bilerico Project, about their work uncovering news of the assault:
Sadly, our information about the attack and the condition of the victims is limited because both the UC Police Department and the local mainstream media have seemed reluctant to inform the public about this crime…
Jamie Royce of the blog Stuff Queer People Need to Know and Donald Caster of Cincinnati Blog have searched court records…
Both the UCPD and the local mainstream media have seemed reluctant to inform the public about this crime until they were virtually forced to action.
Though information about the attack was not disseminated until 12 days after the crime occurred, local community members did not let that hinder their activism. Cincinnati activists got to work quickly, organizing a protest against anti-gay attacks, and securing media coverage at local and national blogs, the local ABC affiliate, and the city’s largest paper, the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Utilizing Facebook, Twitter, and good old-fashioned e-mail, local activists created momentum for their protest rally yesterday in just one day, garnering 250 participants along with print, online, and broadcast media coverage. Check out local blogger Barry Floore’s photos from the rally: http://tinyurl.com/c9q8dm
Over 250 folks attended the rally. (Photo by Barry Floore)
GLAAD’s Media Field Strategy team works with local individuals and organizations across the country every day to provide media relations assistance. We have reached out to folks in Cincinnati to offer support, and to congratulate them on the amazing work.
As we learned in the poll GLAAD comissioned from Harris Interactive at the end of last year, seeing stories of real LGBT people in their communities in the news is one of the leading factors Americans cite in why their perceptions of LGBT folks have gotten more favorable.
If you’re working on a local LGBT issue, don’t hesitate to reach out to GLAAD for support! Media Field Strategy contacts: Eastern U.S.: mediastrategyec@glaad.org Western U.S.: mediastrategywc@glaad.org
Indiana’s WTHR-TV Changes Story GLAAD Named “Worst”
January 26, 2009
Thanks to a “worst” mention in GLAAD’s latest “Best & Worst of National News,” and coverage of the mention at the Bilerico Project, a problematic news story has been changed on the website of WTHR, a local NBC affiliate.
Michael Hunt and Taysia Elzy
Near the end of December, 2008, a transgender woman, Taysia Elzy, and her partner, Michael Hunt, were found murdered in their Indianapolis home. Local news media began to identify the Elzy by her male name. They also used male pronouns. GLAAD and local advocates, including Bil Browning of The Bilerico Project, reached out to reporters to talk with them about how to report on transgender people in a fair and accurate way.
The Indianapolis Star took the most proactive approach in their coverage. Both The Bilerico Project and GLAAD were able to speak with one of their news reporters, Francesca Jarosz, who made sure to use appropriate terminology when referring to Elzy.
Local station WTHR-TV was another story. Their news reporter Steve Jefferson referred to Elzy as a man in his news story, and was unwilling to use terminology resources provided by GLAAD, which included GLAAD’s Media Reference Guide, which lists the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook’s section on transgender issues:
Transgender: Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.
If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.
After receiving an e-mail back from Jefferson, it was clear he was not interested in changing his story to 
adhere to AP guidelines. (He said he did not use female pronouns because he said the transgender victim “was NOT post-op.” )
Thanks to all of those who took action after seeing our “Best & Worst” on glaad.org, Bilerico, and many other blogs. Check out the change it’s making on the media landscape in Indiana via Bilerico’s Update:
UPDATE: I spoke with Carolyn Williams, the News Director for WTHR. The offensive article has been edited to conform with the AP Style Guide. Ms. Williams will also be speaking with her Station Manager about coordinating a diversity training session on LGBT issues with all area television stations.
Ms. Williams was very kind and understanding. E-mailing Ms. Williams with kudos for her prompt response and leadership would be more appropriate at this point!
For those interested in thanking Williams: CWilliams@WTHR.com
It’s exciting to see media professionals take the time out to ensure that stories about transgender people are fair and accurate! In a time when GLAAD still has enough “worst” stories to publish a “Best & Worst of National News” every month, it’s a big step to see a major news station make a change like this.
The next time you see a problematic story about the LGBT community, reach out! Let us know here at GLAAD by filling out a quick Incident Report on glaad.org and write to the media professionals involved letting them know how you feel! And if you see a great story, let us know, and thank the reporter as well!
