Comment of the Week: Tobi Hill-Meyer
Filed by: Bil Browning
December 5, 2010 7:00 PM

http://www.bilerico.com/2010/12/comment_of_the_week_tobi_hill-meyer.php

On my post about atrocious language in a television report about two transgender criminal suspects. The article referred to them as "perverts," "freaks," and "bosom buddies." Some of the commenters on the post seemed to argue that the severity of the crime (sexual in nature) made it okay to refer to the alleged perpetrators in derogatory language.

    It doesn't become okay to be bigoted just because the targets of one's bigotry did something wrong. Would you imagine racism, homophobia, sexism, etc should be justified if the targets are criminals?

    And even if you do believe that, there's the problem of disproportional treatment. Why should trans criminals face more intense (and extra-legal) punishments than cis people committing the same crime?