Report on Transgender Employment Discrimination in New York Finds Ongoing Bias
March 16, 2010
Julian Brolaski, a transgender man that was refused work at J. Crew (NY Daily News)
On Sunday, LGBT rights supporters gathered outside J Crew on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to protest the results of a recent report that found the retailer biased against openly transgender applicants. Make the Road New York, a non-profit that promotes economic justice, equity and opportunity for all New Yorkers, conducted research into the hiring practices of 24 retail stores in Manhattan by sending two otherwise evenly matched applicants into the stores, one transgender and one not. On Sunday, they released their findings in a report titled “Transgender Need Not Apply: A Report on Gender Identity Job Discrimination.”
According to the New York Daily News, one of the openly transgender applicants, Yo Smith (a 39-year-old transwoman performance artist), did not receive a single job offer from the dozens of retailers she applied to, but her non-trans counterpart received eight.
Overall, the report “found a 42 percent net rate of discrimination for transgender job applicants… [and] 49 percent of transgender workers surveyed reported that they have never been offered a job in the time that they have lived openly as transgender.”
A listing of the results by employer can be found on The Gothamist blog. Atop the list sits J Crew, where one of the transgender test applicants “was treated brusquely, told to fill out an application and was never called,” while his cisgender* testing counterpart was interviewed on the spot and offered a job soon after.
As Make the Road New York’s Irene Tung told The Gothamist, “The two separate instances of discrimination are considered by the Attorney General and also by social scientists who specialize in matched pair testing, to be especially egregious because they represent a pattern of discrimination. So it is this pattern of discrimination we are singling out at J. Crew.” The group has filed a job-discrimination complaint with the New York State Attorney General’s Office.
The San Diego Gay & Lesbian News reported that this effort has been endorsed by the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union, FIERCE, LGBT Equality Coalition of Queens, Queers for Economic Justice and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.
While New York City Human Rights Law prohibits discrimination on the basis of either sexual orientation or gender identity, openly transgender job applicants have continued to experience discrimination, as this report confirms. New York still lacks state-wide protections against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression, although advocates are hopeful that the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) will pass through the New York Senate this year, after an early-March victory in the Assembly, where it has now passed three times.
GLAAD will continue to keep you updated on media coverage of employment discrimination against transgender people.
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* In her book, Transgender History, Susan Stryker defines cisgender as preferred over nontransgender. The prefix cis means “on the same side as” (that is, the opposite of trans). The idea behind the term is to resist the way that “woman” or “man” can mean “nontransgender woman” or “nontransgender man” by default. “Cisgender” names the usually unstated assumption of nontransgender status contained in the words “man” and woman.”
Related Posts:VH1’s “TRANSform Me” Highlights Trans Identity for the Non-Trans Community
March 16, 2010
Last night VH1 premiered its new makeover reality show “TRANSform Me,” starring three transgender women, Laverne Cox, Jamie Clayton, and Nina Poon. Each episode follows the trio as they aid women across the country to realize their inner selves, with the help of their “glambulance.”
While “TRANSform Me” does present only a certain type of transgender woman and glorifies only a certain kind of femininity, it seems to remain genuine to each of the women’s identities and excels at discussing transgender identity and experiences in a very accessible way. The most praise-worthy aspect of this show is not so much its frank discussion of gender identity, but the way it relates the experiences of transwomen to those of cisgender* women, demonstrating the universality of the desire to match one’s outward self-presentation with one’s inner identity.
As Laverne Cox begins to consult with the subject of their first transformation, Nicole (a 25-year-old who recently lost 60 pounds but still wears her old clothing), she explains, “We all basically felt differently inside than we were on the outside, and we took steps to change that. That’s exactly what you did when you lost weight, right? …So we’re going to use what we’ve learned transforming ourselves to transform you.”
(L to R) Laverne Cox, Jamie Clayton, and Nina Poon
On the show, Cox, Clayton, and Poon also break down the fundamentals of trans identity for those who have never considered issues of gender identity before. When Nicole asks Laverne Cox the naïve but typical question “You used to be man?”, Cox laughs and then gives the nuanced answer, “Sort of. We’re transgender, so we always felt like we were little girls inside, but when we were born what was on the outside suggested differently.”
As the three strive to bring out Nicole’s “inner goddess,” they also succeed in showing the audience their own. Even if that might not be the way every woman would describe her process of self-actualization, we can all agree with Jamie’s closing sentiment, “We know how intense it is to finally see yourself realized the way that you’ve always pictured.”
GLAAD commends VH1 for their thoughtful production of this show and looks forward to more inclusive and educational episodes of “TRANSform Me” each week. Visit their fan page, where they link to the Audre Lorde Project, GLAAD, and additional resources about transgender identity.
GLAAD has worked closely with the show to ensure accurate terminology is used throughout all episodes. We also provided advice on how the three stars can effectively speak to the national media about the the importance of this groundbreakng program.
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* In her book, Transgender History, Susan Stryker defines cisgender as preferred over nontransgender. The prefix cis means “on the same side as” (that is, the opposite of trans). The idea behind the term is to resist the way that “woman” or “man” can mean “nontransgender woman” or “nontransgender man” by default. “Cisgender” names the usually unstated assumption of nontransgender status contained in the words “man” and “woman.”
Related Posts:CNN Special Chronicles the Transition of Susan Stanton
March 15, 2010
In “Her Name was Steven,” Susan Stanton speaks about the challenges facing the transgender community and about her own journey from Steven to Susan.
In 2007, Largo, Florida, City Manager Steven Stanton came out as transgender. Steven was quickly terminated from Largo’s City Manager position, but courageously continued the transition process.
Now, Susan Stanton has resumed her role in Floridian politics and works as City Manager in Lake Worth, FL. Stanton says that although her title is the same, she is treated differently as a woman:
“You don’t realize how difficult it is to lead people as a woman because you don’t get the deference as a woman.
“As a guy, when I’m talking, people would stop. But now, sometimes I find myself saying, ‘Excuse me, stop interrupting me.’”
The CNN profile also revealed the isolation that Stanton faced simply by being who she was. Like many transgender people, Stanton says she contemplated suicide and battled depression.
According to the network, “CNN followed Stanton’s life for more than two years [and] the resulting portrait is sensitively told in Stanton’s own voice, with arresting candidness and honesty.”
GLAAD is encouraged to see CNN devote a significant amount of coverage to transgender people. Transgender people are our neighbors, coworkers, and friends. They contribute greatly to the rich tapestry of the world and they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Programs like CNN’s “Her Name was Steven” are the right step in moving the conversation forward about transgender people.
For more information on “Her Name was Steven,” visit CNN Presents’ website here.
Related Posts:UPDATE: The CW Pulls Defamatory Promo for High Society
March 1, 2010
After GLAAD reached out to The CW about a promotional video for its new reality show, High Society, the network quickly responded and said the trailer would be pulled from circulation as soon as possible, although it is expected that the full removal of the preview could take several days.
High Society features openly gay writer and NYC socialite, Paul Johnson-Calderon.
In the trailer, a party goer said that the show’s star, NYC socialite Tinsley Mortimer, looked “like a tranny.” Within the same preview, Jules, Mortimer’s friend, says “I use the N-word sometimes.”
The CW attracts a large LGBT viewership due to its significant LGBT inclusion on shows such as Gossip Girl and America’s Next Top Model, and was second only to ABC in GLAAD’s 2008-2009 Network Responsibility Index. Many in the LGBT community were offended by the appearance of this comment on The CW, which worked only to perpetuate discrimination towards the transgender community.
GLAAD commends The CW for such a timely response to the derogatory trailer, and looks forward to the premiere of High Society, which also features openly gay Manhattan socialite Paul Johnson-Calderon in the cast.
Related Posts:Prodigal Sons Opens in New York City; GLAAD Q&A with Director Kimberly Reed, Wednesday, March 3
February 26, 2010
Prodigal Sons, the bold new autobiographical documentary from filmmaker Kimberly Reed, opens at the Cinema Village in New York City Friday, February 26. In the film, Reed documents her trip to the small Montana town where she grew up as Paul McKerrow, the star high school quarterback.
Reed, who recently appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and was profiled in Details magazine, offers an unflinching look into her life as a transgender lesbian traveling home for her 20th high school reunion and hoping for reconciliation with her troubled adopted brother. Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Best Documentary Jury Prize at NewFest, and Special Jury Prizes for Fearless Filmmaking at the Florida Film Festival and Bravery in Storytelling at the Nashville Film Festival, Prodigal Sons is a raw and provocative examination of one family’s struggle to come to terms with its past and present.
Cindi Creager, GLAAD’s Director of National News, will lead a Q&A with Kimberly Reed on Wednesday, March 3 at the 7:20 PM screening of Prodigal Sons at the Cinema Village.
For additional information on showtimes, and for information on when Prodigal Sons will be coming to a theater near you, please visit: http://www.prodigalsonsfilm.com/
View the trailer:
“The Dr. Oz Show” Raises the Bar for Transgender Talk Show Coverage
February 18, 2010
This afternoon the highly anticipated Dr. Oz Show episode featuring transgender children and their families aired, exhibiting some of the best nationally televised conversations about gender identity, despite some missteps in promotional materials and on-screen visuals.
In the introductory segment of his hour-long health show, Dr. Mehmet Oz hosted two transgender children and their families to discuss their process of realizing and embracing their respective identities. Eight-year-old Josie and her mother Vanessia, members of the organization Trans Youth Family Allies, who some may recognize from their recent appearance on “The Tyra Show,” talked about first learning the word transgender and how drastically Josie’s life improved once she stopped being forced into a masculine identity that did not fit her. Next, fifteen-year old Isaac and his parents Arturo and Monica explained how they decided that taking hormone blockers and undergoing a double-mastectomy would be best for him. While references to surgery and anatomy did come up, Dr. Oz did not focus on those aspects of their stories. Instead, the producers refreshingly included footage of Isaac stating that while the hormones and surgery helped, “I’ve always been me.”
While talking with each family, Dr. Oz consulted guest expert Dr. Robert Garofalo, a pediatrician who advises hundreds of children and their families about gender transitions, allowing the audience to hear probably the healthiest medical opinion of transgender identity ever broadcast. After Dr. Oz presented the phrase “Gender Identity Disorder” and let it linger on the screen behind his transgender guest, Dr. Garofalo was quick to calmly emphasize that the term disorder is not broadly accepted by transgender community members and allies. While Dr. Garofalo acknowledged that the prescription of hormone blockers is relatively new – and therefore under-researched, he stressed that the decision should lie primarily with the children and their families rather than medical professionals.
Alongside this groundbreaking content, however, sensationalized portrayals of the topic remained in the promotional videos for the episode, and even in the episode’s open-ended title, “Transgender Kids: Too Young To Decide?”, which also hovered in the background throughout the segment.
Though the show certainly left room for improvement in its promotional methods and on-screen images, GLAAD applauds Dr. Oz and his producers for providing an exemplary discussion of gender identity, unprecedented in its refrain from an intrusive focus on anatomy.
Take Action to Thank the Dr. Oz Producers for Their Coverage of Transgender Children:
We encourage all viewers, advocates, and allies to write letters of thanks to Dr. Oz and his producers to let them know how much their segment has improved the standard for media presentations of transgender-related topics.
Please send emails to susan@zoco.com. If you would like to sign a model thank you letter we have drafted, please click here. Help us generate future episodes of equal or greater caliber.
Related Posts:New NYC Welfare Procedure Addresses Anti-Transgender Discrimination
February 17, 2010
On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, TransJustice of the Audre Lorde Project, Housing Works, Queers for Economic Justice, and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project celebrated the recent victory of their collaborative Welfare Justice Campaign in preventing discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers applying for public services.
The Human Resources Administration of the City of New York (HRA) adopted Procedure No. P-09-22 on December 23, 2009 after a five-year campaign led by the above organizations and a number of elected city officials. The Procedure circulated among all HRA staff, titled “Serving Transgender, Transsexual and Gender Nonconforming Individuals” highlights “a few key areas where employees should pay special attention to prevent creating a discriminatory or unwelcoming environment for transgender clients,” including Titles, Names and Pronoun usage, Access to Restrooms, and Dress Code.
At Wednesday morning’s press conference Jane Corbett, Executive Deputy Commissioner of the HRA expressed that there had been some initial trepidation over how city agencies would receive the new procedure but proudly announced that “there was not one negative reaction.” The procedure will ensure that HRA staff members comply with existing New York City Human Rights Law, amended in 2002 to explicitly protect transgender and gender non-conforming people from discrimination in public accommodations and services, employment and housing, and bias-related harassment.
Discussing the importance of this procedural victory, Tracy Bumpus of Housing Works questioned, “For Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people, what is the value of freedom if we are afraid to seek the life sustaining services offered by HRA because we are discriminated against, made fun of and made to feel less than human?” Their press release cites instances when transgender people applying for government benefits have been turned away and told to return “when they dress more like a girl, or boy.”
Trans and Gender Non-Conforming community members had been fighting this sort of discrimination since 2005 when the HRA along with a Citizen Advisory Transgender Sub Committee developed the draft of a comprehensive procedure, which formed the basis for the HRA Procedure finally implemented in December of 2009. In the wake of this victory, advocates are looking to oversee HRA training methods and curricula, as the implementation phase has presented stumbling blocks for cities that have adopted such procedures in the past.
GLAAD applauds these organizations for their persistence in ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to basic resources, and we encourage local media outlets to spotlight this landmark change in public service procedures.
Related Posts:Comedy Central’s Daniel Tosh Crosses the Line with Transphobic Jokes on Tosh.0
February 17, 2010
Bil Browning from The Bilerico Project recently alerted GLAAD to a problematic episode of Comedy Central’s Tosh.0, a program that features comedian Daniel Tosh’s opinions about online media, pop culture, and celebrity news. Tosh crossed the line late last month with a severely transphobic segment in which he continuously made degrading remarks about a video featuring “The World’s Tallest Model,” articulating crude insinuations about her gender identity and her anatomy.
The segment can be viewed below:
| Tosh.0 | |
| World’s Tallest Model | |
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In the clip, Tosh shoots out rapid fire offensive jokes such as, “the worst thing about being so tall is that it makes your d*ck look small,” and “like most models, I assume they photoshop her d*ck out.”
Although GLAAD recognizes that there is a time and place for appropriate humor and satire, this kind of blatantly offensive material cannot be tolerated in a climate that remains extremely transphobic. It contributes to putting transgender people in harm’s way.
GLAAD will be monitoring Tosh.0 for anti-LGBT content and urges you to do the same. If you see offensive material, fill out an incident report at www.glaad.org/reportdefamation or e-mail incident@glaad.org. Should offensive material continue to air, GLAAD will be working with Bil Browning and others to call out Comedy Central for giving a platform to anti-transgender humor.
Related Posts:Sylvia Rivera Law Project Hosts Benefit Art Auction on Thursday, Feb 18
February 16, 2010
On February 18th, our friends at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) will host their 5th annual party and benefit art auction at Participant Gallery in New York. SRLP is the nation’s leading legal and social advocacy group for transgender communities. The event, Small Works for Big Change, will auction works by 65 artists including Nicole Eisenman, Tony Feher, K8 Hardy, Matt Keegan, Emily Roysdon, Amy Sillman and others.
The event will also feature a live performance by Dynasty Handbag and films by Chitra Ganesh and Rashaad Newsome.
More than a benefit, Small Works for Big Change celebrates the critical work of SRLP and the radical creativity of New York’s most innovative emerging and established contemporary artists. To see the press release for this event, please visit http://srlp.org/swbcpress.
Small Works for Big Change Celebration to Benefit the Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Thursday, February 18, 2010, 6:30 – 9:30 PM
Participant Gallery
253 East Houston Street, NYC
For more information about the event please visit http://srlp.org/bigchange
Groundbreaking Dr. Oz Show on Transgender Children Airs Thursday, Feb 18
February 16, 2010
GLAAD is pleased to announce that on Thursday, February 18th “The Dr. Oz Show” will be airing one of the best 15-minute segments on transgender children to ever appear on national television.
Dr. Oz hosted two transgender children and their families on his show to discuss their experiences growing up and their parents’ decision to support them in their true identity. Representatives from GLAAD and Trans Youth Family Allies were present for the live taping, and we were happy to witness the overwhelming respect and accuracy with which Dr. Oz presented and discussed a topic that has often been mishandled by media professionals.
We encourage all supporters to watch this groundbreaking episode on February 18th. Check here for your local show times/channels. Please check back after it airs for our overview blog.
Related Posts:“The Tyra Show” Features Transgender Children and Their Families
January 28, 2010
On Wednesday afternoon, The CW Network aired an episode of The Tyra Show focusing on transgender children and their families, titled “We’re 7 & 8 Years Old and Know We Are Transgender.” Four young transgender people and three of their families appeared on the show to discuss their identities and their families’ experiences in raising them as their true selves. 
While the show, overall, did a laudable job of presenting the rarely-discussed topic of transgender children and their families to a mainstream audience using correct terminology and asking respectful questions, there was still some room for improvement.
Tyra first spoke with the family of Josie, an eight-year-old transgender girl, whose mother shared how she first learned about the word transgender and realized that the female identity Josie had always expressed was something she and her husband needed to embrace. As Josie talked with Tyra, she shared her favorite activities and various aspects of her personality.
However, at points the conversation shifted problematically to focus on Josie’s body and anatomy, with questions about her self-described “birth defect” and her level of comfort in bathing suits and getting dressed in the morning – though it does appear that the show’s producers may have edited out some of the most problematic questions that GLAAD witnessed at the live taping.
Unfortunately, with every transgender guest on the remainder of the show, Tyra’s focus in one way or another returned to issues of anatomy, surgery, menstruation, or body hair rather than highlighting the more important stories from their life experiences. Mainstream America’s tendency to reduce transgender people to their anatomy and operative status is never acceptable, but in the context of young children, such conversations become even more inappropriate.
Additionally, the end of the show featured “a heated debate” over the acceptability of parents’ decisions to allow their children to live as a gender different from their sex at birth. Dr. Marci Bowers, a transgender surgeon specializing in sex reassignment surgery, and Kim Pearson, Executive Director of TransYouth Family Allies rebutted arguments made by a professor who said that all children should be discouraged from transitioning and made to feel comfortable living as their birth sex. This segment brought an unnecessary source of friction to an issue that did not need to be framed as a debate.
Again, GLAAD thanks The Tyra Show and its producers for bringing the topic of transgender children to daytime TV in a mostly fair and respectful manner. We hope that this constructive criticism will serve to inform future episodes on transgender-related topics.
Related Posts:Taco Bell Addresses Reports That Transphobic Radio Ads Are Still Airing
January 25, 2010
On January 13 GLAAD reached out to Taco Bell Corporation after receiving numerous complaints about a transphobic radio commercial that was airing across the country. BorderHouse blog published the most complete description of its content on January 7th:
“Some male tells a female (presumably his wife or girlfriend) that it’s a surprise that there is nacho cheese in a layer of the Taco Bell burrito. The woman responds with “Well, I have a surprise for you. I was born male, my name was Claudio” and her voice is lowered several octaves. After which, the male says ‘Ew.’”
GLAAD contacted Taco Bell’s Media Relations staff about the collective outcry over the use of someone’s transgender identity as the punch line of a joke and Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch swiftly issued this statement:
“We sincerely apologize as the ad was not meant to offend anyone and as soon as it was brought to our attention, we immediately stopped airing it.”
Unfortunately GLAAD has received several reports that the problematic ad is still running in places like Indianapolis, Indiana, Cincinnati, Ohio and Hampton Roads, Virginia. The Advocate Magazine also reported hearing a similar commercial on Sunday morning in Los Angeles on KIIS-FM during Ryan Seacrest’s weekly American Top 40 countdown. According to the Advocate, “In this ad, after a fight between the man and the woman, the woman says, “Well then I don’t feel so guilty telling you… [I wasn't born] Martha.” The woman’s voice then changes to a man’s voice, which says, “I’m Marvin.”
We reached out to Taco Bell to ask that the company rectify this situation immediately and explain why the problematic commercials are still reportedly running in several markets. Taco Bell issued this response:
“We are very concerned to have learned that over the weekend some stations were airing a radio ad that we instructed them to remove on January 14. In the process of replacing the ad, we discovered that some stations inadvertently ran the original commercial. We sincerely apologize that this ad ran again and offended people. We’re in the process of contacting all of our radio partners to ensure that the original ad never airs again. We appreciate that GLAAD brought this to our attention so that we could take immediate action.”
We appreciate Taco Bell issuing this apology but urge our members to hold the company accountable for fair advertising standards moving forward. If you hear anti-LGBT radio commercials in your local area please contact GLAAD immediately at nationalnews@glaad.org and tell us what time the commercial aired, on what station, and in what city. Taco Bell must live up to its word, pull all of the spots immediately, and cease defaming LGBT people in all future advertisements. GLAAD and the community will be listening.
Related Posts:Transgender Woman Murdered in Houston; Some Media Coverage Misses the Mark
January 25, 2010
GLAAD joined Pride Houston on Monday in an effort to correct problematic news coverage about the tragic murder of Myra Chanel Ical, a transgender woman whose half-naked body was found in the Montrose area of Houston on Jan. 18.
Authorities have no suspects in the case.
The Houston Police Department issued a Press Release last Wednesday which incorrectly identified Ms. Ical by the male pronoun.
Following the BPD’s lead, The Houston Chronicle published an article on Jan. 20 which erroneously calls Ms. Ical “a man” and also uses the male pronoun. Both the BPD and The Houston Chronicle also list Ical’s birth name as primary identification.
Both The Associated Press and The New York Times’s style guidelines prohibit reporters from using a pronoun that an individual does not prefer.
From The Associated Press:
“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.”
From The New York Times:
“Unless a former name is newsworthy or pertinent, use the name and pronouns (he, his, she her hers) preferred by the transgender person. If no preference is known, use the pronouns consistent with the way the subject lives publicly.”
Houston’s local Fox affiliate, KRIV-Fox 26, also failed to accurately report the murder, again incorrectly calling Ms. Ican “a man” and listing her birth name, rather than her lived name.
It should be noted, meanwhile, that Houston’s local CBS affiliate, KHOU-11, fairly and accurately reported on the murder and even reached out to the Transgender Foundation of America for its story:
After being alerted to the problematic coverage, GLAAD contacted Pride Houston to offer our assistance in the matter.
(To read Pride Houston President Meghan Stabler’s analysis of local media coverage, click here)
GLAAD has since reached out to both The Houston Chronicle and Fox-26 Houston and requested that their stories be changed to reflect accurate terminology.
A candlelight vigil for Myra Chanel Ical will be held tonight, January 25, 2010, at 9 P.M. at the site where Myra’s body was discovered. Please join over 160 confirmed attendees to remember Myra’s life and raise awareness about anti-transgender violence.
For more information about tonight’s vigil click here, or visit the Memorial for Myra Ical Facebook page.
Anyone who might know anything about this crime or who might have witnessed it is urged to call Crime Stoppers. Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for any information called in to the 713-222-8477 tips hotline or submitted online at www.crimestoppers.org that leads to the identification, arrest and/or charging of the any of the suspects in this case.
GLAAD will continue to insist that media fairly and accurately report on the murder of Myra Ical. Updates will be made available on GLAADblog.org
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UPDATE: KRIV- Fox 26 Houston Drastically Improves Coverage after GLAAD Outreach
Last night, approximately 200 advocates and allies gathered on the 4300 block of Garrott in Houston to remember Myra Chanel Ical.
Fox 26 Houston was on the scene and made notable improvements in its reporting after GLAAD and Pride Houston reached out to the network.
Fox 26 originally identified Myra as a man and used her birth name instead of her lived name.
GLAAD applauds KRIV-Fox 26 Houston adhering to journalistic standards of fairness and staying in-line with contemporary usage. We will continue to act as a resource for Fox 26 in its future LGBT reporting.
Related Posts:Taco Bell Acts Quickly to Remove Transphobic Radio Ad
January 13, 2010
After receiving several reports from constituents and advocates about a transphobic radio commercial for Taco Bell, GLAAD joined a handful of watchful bloggers in calling on the company to cancel the ad. This afternoon, Taco Bell agreed to pull the hurtful material from further broadcasts after conversations with our National News team and other concerned advocates, including Autumn Sandeen of Pam’s House Blend.
While no audio recording of the commercial has yet been found, BorderHouse blog published the most complete description of its content on January 7th:
Some male tells a female (presumably his wife or girlfriend) that it’s a surprise that there is nacho cheese in a layer of the Taco Bell burrito. The woman responds with “Well, I have a surprise for you. I was born male, my name was Claudio” and her voice is lowered several octaves. After which, the male says “Ew.”
GLAAD contacted Taco Bell’s Media Relations staff about the collective outcry over the use of someone’s transgender identity as the punch line of a joke (a troubling trend we dealt with most recently in outreach to the Late Show with David Letterman).
Spokesman for Taco Bell, Rob Poetsch, confirmed that descriptions of the ad by concerned advocates were accurate and quickly began the process of taking the ad off the air. He issued this statement to GLAAD late today.
“We sincerely apologize as the ad was not meant to offend anyone and as soon as it was brought to our attention, we immediately stopped airing it.”
- Rod Poetsch, Taco Bell Corp.
It is encouraging to see Taco Bell act so quickly in response to our concerns. A special thank you to all of the community members, especially Autumn Sandeen, who brought this to GLAAD’s attention. We were happy to help bring a resolution to this situation.
Related Posts:“Late Show with David Letterman” Contributes to Problematic Reporting on Amanda Simpson
January 6, 2010
Yesterday we reported on President Obama’s appointment of Amanda Simpson as a senior technical advisor at the Commerce Department and some of the problematic news coverage about her becoming one of the first openly transgender presidential appointees.
Unfortunately, as coverage of her landmark appointment continues, so does the disrespectful treatment in the media. During last night’s “Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS, David Letterman announced Simpson’s appointment and reported that she is a transgender woman. He also showed a photo of her. The show’s announcer Alan Kalter then reacted to the news with disgust and mock horror, saying, “What? Amanda used to be a dude? My God!” He then hurried off stage to hearty laughter from the audience, apparently to go collect himself after the shock of this discovery.
Using this type of reaction to the discovery of a person’s transgender identity for comic effect appears to be a current trend in entertainment media. We’ve recently criticized similar instances of such defamation on FOX’s “The Cleveland Show.” Depicting people reacting in horror to transgender individuals is a dangerous stereotype for popular media to perpetuate because it contributes to the societal conception of transgender people as abnormal and deceptive, which all-too-often results in anti-transgender violence and/or discrimination when played out in reality.
We are reaching out to CBS “Late Show with David Letterman” with our concerns about this transphobic joke. Please send your concerns to CBS at: http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/fb_global_form.php
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