Petition: End Transphobia on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report

[Lo]

I shared the link on tumblr, and the post seems to be getting 1000+ notes every 6 hours. My phone is has been going crazy with push notifications! So glad to see such a response, and it's cool to see that there's no sign of the reblogging slowing down any time soon.

[Ande]

I shared the link on tumblr, and the post seems to be getting 1000+ notes every 6 hours. My phone is has been going crazy with push notifications! So glad to see such a response, and it's cool to see that there's no sign of the reblogging slowing down any time soon.

Thanks for the boost! I'm going to start mirroring my blog posts to my tumblr account, will post an update soon. What's your handle on tumblr?
2500+!

[Ande]

Up over 5000, still no response from TDS or TCR. Argh. Will continue working on it.

[Ande]

The issue was mentioned on Towleroad today:
http://www.towleroad.com/2013/12/case-study-in-transmisogny-points-out-the-uglier-sides-of-colbert-stewarts-television-personas/comments/page/2/#comments
Some mad hate in the comments, natch.
From "Sienna:"
"LGBs need to wake up. Ts are not our "people." They use us. And when anyone calls out this exploitation for what it is, trans activists go after them, often violently. We need to start working with the police to bring down violent trans activists, who are just a few notches above neo-Nazis and terrorists."

[Tessa James]

Ande it may be hurtful or counterproductive to even expose one's self to the vitriolic rhetoric on that site.  We are terribly well equipped for discrimination and can find the negative needle in any haystack it seems.  We don't have to look far.

The truth, as I understand our history, is that we as the T in LGBT have always been part of the organized and activist community seeking civil rights and freedom of expression.  Stonewall is often seen as the seminal event in the USA and "we" were there!  All of the LGBTQIA rainbow combined still makes up a minority population in the world.  We need solidarity, allies and friends more than ever.

Thanks for working to promote diversity and some peaceful coexistence too.

[BunnyBee]

Stonewall is often seen as the seminal event in the USA and "we" were there!

And a big part of it.

[Ande]

Ande it may be hurtful or counterproductive to even expose one's self to the vitriolic rhetoric on that site.  We are terribly well equipped for discrimination and can find the negative needle in any haystack it seems.  We don't have to look far.

The truth, as I understand our history, is that we as the T in LGBT have always been part of the organized and activist community seeking civil rights and freedom of expression.  Stonewall is often seen as the seminal event in the USA and "we" were there!  All of the LGBTQIA rainbow combined still makes up a minority population in the world.  We need solidarity, allies and friends more than ever.

Thanks for working to promote diversity and some peaceful coexistence too.

Vitriolic is too kind a descriptor! As I wrote about regarding the Cassidy Lynn Youtube issue, I think it is important to shine light on comment evil. It's not good for anyone, regardless of the context, and I reject the notion that it should be accepted as just a part of our contemporary lives. I am particularly perturbed by the comments on Towleroad as I just did not expect them on that site. Another example of my naïveté.

[KabitTarah]

Vitriolic is too kind a descriptor! As I wrote about regarding the Cassidy Lynn Youtube issue, I think it is important to shine light on comment evil. It's not good for anyone, regardless of the context, and I reject the notion that it should be accepted as just a part of our contemporary lives. I am particularly perturbed by the comments on Towleroad as I just did not expect them on that site. Another example of my naïveté.

Comment evil is difficult. People feel as though they're unaccountable and are able to say anything they want. The only way to stop that is for a website to take it into their own hands. Nothing being said is ever blatantly illegal... or it *would* be taken down by the site, if only for liability purposes.

I prefer articles and websites that have no comments section ~ for all news.

[Ande]

Comment evil is difficult. People feel as though they're unaccountable and are able to say anything they want. The only way to stop that is for a website to take it into their own hands. Nothing being said is ever blatantly illegal... or it *would* be taken down by the site, if only for liability purposes.

I prefer articles and websites that have no comments section ~ for all news.

I am with you. Comments sections may occasionlly provide useful information, like more info on overcoming a problem or moral support, but usually they only serve as a blank wall ripe for vandalism. Particlarily for pieces that are less informwtional and more editorial or reflective, having a comments section is like giving buckets of paint to self-professed art haters and telling them to enjoy the museum.
The explanation given by Popular Science about why they recently eliminated comments on their articles is very cogent:
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-09/why-were-shutting-our-comments
Refering to a small study examining the effect of uncivil comments on reader perception of the worth the subject (a line of scientific research in this case), the author writes:
"If you carry out those results to their logical end--commenters shape public opinion; public opinion shapes public policy; public policy shapes how and whether and what research gets funded--you start to see why we feel compelled to hit the "off" switch."

[BunnyBee]

It's to the point now That I don't bother reading comments if they aren't hooked into fb, with posters real name and face on display.  I know it isn't hard to make a troll acct or whatever, but it's enough of a barrier that those kinds of comments seem to be far less terrible.

Anything anybody says behind the screen of anonymity just doesn't hold any value, and I don't think anybody should even pay them any mind.  It's all a fake trolly game.

[Tessa James]

I just did not expect them on that site. Another example of my naïveté.

I like to think we have been too innocent.  I want to continue believing that being nice will bring nice karma and it's a challenge when I get run over by their Karman Gia  (old VW joke).

Seriously tho I have experienced some of the worst discrimination from our would be sisters and brothers within the LGBTQIA rainbow.  I came out decades ago as Bi/queer and encountered the "more gay than you" attitude.  Now it's the "more trans than you thing"  Sheesh, hierarchies are so tedious!

My point being that Transphobia can rise from surprising sources?  I had it too, at one point in my shame based life, and glad to now see more of the light.

Education Rocks!

[Miss_Bungle1991]

I'm sure I am in the minority here, but I am not signing this petition. You want to hurt shows like this? Shut them off. That is the only way to really harm them. I don't mean, that they should be forced off the air. Just don't tune in to them. I'm pretty desensitized to transphobia on television anyway. I have a few favorite shows where I've seen/heard transphobic stuff. I just roll my eyes, maybe flip off the screen if I happen to be in a mood that day. But I don't let it get to me all that much. The way I see it, if someone has a bias against someone for whatever reason, forcing a TV show to not say this or that isn't going to accomplish much. We all know how things get spun this way and that way in the media. It would just be the usual "look, the ->-bleeped-<-s are crying about this and that" and we all know it. Anyone that allows their moronic views to be shaped by TV is a fool anyway. Screw the haters and the bigoted losers out there. They aren't worth the trouble.

[Violet Bloom]

  I agree that the joke in question about hiding your birth gender and/or sex from others was in bad taste and kinda came out of nowhere.  That said, I would never consider trying to hide my past from a partner, which I think was the context of the joke.  So on the joke itself I'm with the OP, but on the subtext implied I'm not sure where everyone stands.  The latter is a huge can-o-worms debate I'm not willing to open but I've made my stance clear.  I expect the same level of trust and honesty from a partner as I'm prepared to offer them myself.

[Miss_Bungle1991]

Signed, but I still love Stewart and Colbert.  :-)

Meh. They (and most things on TV) don't mean much to me. I ditched the cable companies years ago. If I want to watch a program, I just buy it on DVD.

[Violet Bloom]

  Frankly I think those shows simply run out of creative juice frequently.  When you have to try to lampoon everything almost every night of the year you're bound to have a few off-moments.  Eventually the dregs of the creative meetings make it to air because it's all they could come up with.  There's other non-transphobic stuff I've had a problem with from time to time too.  Overall I think they are doing more good than harm on most subjects.  Very often they make gay jokes meant to freak out the American homophobes to the clear delight of the LGBT-supportive audience.  Every line written is a carefully-crafted backwards slap at the intolerant.

[Ande]

I'm sure I am in the minority here, but I am not signing this petition. You want to hurt shows like this? Shut them off. That is the only way to really harm them. I don't mean, that they should be forced off the air. Just don't tune in to them. I'm pretty desensitized to transphobia on television anyway. I have a few favorite shows where I've seen/heard transphobic stuff. I just roll my eyes, maybe flip off the screen if I happen to be in a mood that day. But I don't let it get to me all that much. The way I see it, if someone has a bias against someone for whatever reason, forcing a TV show to not say this or that isn't going to accomplish much. We all know how things get spun this way and that way in the media. It would just be the usual "look, the ->-bleeped-<-s are crying about this and that" and we all know it. Anyone that allows their moronic views to be shaped by TV is a fool anyway. Screw the haters and the bigoted losers out there. They aren't worth the trouble.

I would argue that it is worth the trouble. As I discuss in the text accompanying the petition, TDS/TCR are not just popular TV shows. If we remain silent and brush off their transphobic so-called comedy (which, again, is not typically phrased as satire on the shows) we are willfully ignoring the incredible influence that popular entertainment has on people, particularly young people. As I quoted above: "Popular entertainment shapes public opinion, and public opinion shapes public policy."

[KabitTarah]

It's all about presentation.

If ->-bleeped-<- is used to joke about other groups, the sentement is transphobic and maligns transgender people.

If they are joking about a transgender news article in a satirical way, the sentement is transpositive and follows much the same pattern as the satire about gay news that happens every so often.

There's too much of the former and not enough of the latter.

[Miss_Bungle1991]

As I quoted above: "Popular entertainment shapes public opinion, and public opinion shapes public policy."

That is only due to the fact that most of the public in general are idiots. The same can be said for the electorate at large since they are so easily manipulated into voting on emotional response and wedge issues. I am not wasting my time with the pathetic dog & pony show that passes itself off as the "democratic voting process" in this country.

I don't care what other people think about that. They can cop out and say that I "have no right to complain because I didn't vote." Well, screw that. The guilty parties are the ones that believe that their vote actually matters. It doesn't mean a damn thing and it never did. Lobbyists, special interests and Big Business have bought and sold the schmucks in D.C. many times over.

[Tessa James]

Transphobia is not a funny joke to me.  The other day I saw a bit of the Big Bang pilot show from 2007.  The two main male characters are happy to have pretty Penny as the new renter next door saying with a shudder she is "better than that 200 pound ->-bleeped-<- that was here."

Those writers, producers and advertisers just lost a viewer.  Television may be a wasteland but it is a huge influence.  Transphobia is pervasive enough that a petition for too frequent insults isn't going to happen.  When someone like Ande does apply their talents to standing up, I will be a supportive ally.

Thanks Ande!

[KabitTarah]

Transphobia is not a funny joke to me.  The other day I saw a bit of the Big Bang pilot show from 2007.  The two main male characters are happy to have pretty Penny as the new renter next door saying with a shudder she is "better than that 200 pound ->-bleeped-<- that was here."

Those writers, producers and advertisers just lost a viewer.  Television may be a wasteland but it is a huge influence.  Transphobia is pervasive enough that a petition for too frequent insults isn't going to happen.  When someone like Ande does apply their talents to standing up, I will be a supportive ally.

Thanks Ande!

The latest season of Big Bang wasn't much better... the first episode of the season had them all freaking about estrogen lacing. They're genius scientists in infinite fields (per the show's history)... they'd know what one dose of estrogen does.