Fox News,which has been known for its right-wing polices and views, has and continues to make offensive remarks towards transgender people.
The following offensive clips show various incidents where Fox News attacks transgender and gay people.
Many people applaud one anchor, Megyn Kelly, for saying "The transgendered, they go through so much pain and emotional turmoil in dealing with the effects of that disorder or whatever you want to call it and I don’t think they need people piling on and mocking them once they do something that many people consider very brave. But that’s me, that’s my two cents." Although, her stance that we shouldn't be mocking transgender people is noble, she still refers to transgender as a "disorder" as if it can be "cured" like what many right-wing politicians and religious leaders have said about homosexuality.
Just because Kelly has made that statement does not mean she agrees or even understands the basics of the transgender community. For instance. while covering a story about a transgender inmate, Michelle Kosilek, who transitioned from a male to female, Kelly and her colleagues on The O'Reilly Factor kept referring to Kosilek as "he" instead of what Kosilek identified herself as "she". Even more offensively, they continue to mock Kosilek for her transition base on how she looks.
Here's part of the Transcript from that video:
O’Reilly: My question is, in the promo, couldn’t they do a better job for a million bucks than this guy? Look, there he is. For a million you figure he might look like Annette Funicello or somebody. I don’t know.
Kelly: Listen, let’s not forget.
O’Reilly: Yeah.
Kelly: He’s in a male prison.
O’Reilly: Alright, but I don’t think he’s in any danger-
Kelly: I bet he looks pretty good.
O’Reilly: No. Even in a male prison, he doesn’t. But for a million bucks, that’s what we get? I don’t know. Alright.
Right-wing programs like Fox News are part of the reasons why so many queer people must live in fear because Fox News is one of the most watched news networks and has a strong conservative base that finds anyway to attack anyone who is not a straight-white-Christian male for their problems.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, released a statement on how Fox News contributes to the violence and hate of transgender people:
"Media misinformation about trans people dangerously permits disrespectful and sometimes violent treatment of trans people. Perhaps worse, though, is that Fox News intentionally misinforms people on issues like trans health care and employment, playing to prejudices they know are outdated. Fox News cements transphobia among the public and, in turn, stalls progress for a community struggling for basic acceptance."
Misinformation indeed, for example, Fox News used a picture from the movie
Mrs. Doubtfire in a story about transgender healthcare; in response to this, the group,
Basic Rights Oregon, launched a
petitionagainst the network.
Aaron McQuade, director of news and field media at GLAAD, said in a statement against Fox News:
At a time when the trans community faces such high rates of violence, unemployment and inequality, Fox News’ pattern of dehumanizing and spreading misinformation about trans people goes against the standards of good journalism and instead gives license for continued violence and discrimination against a community that instead deserves support and respect.
Watch the video and see some examples on how Fox News is transphobic:
More examples of Fox News hate towards transgender people can be found at Equality Matters
.