The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest gay rights advocate, has asked comedian David
Letterman to apologize for a joke the group has labeled
“transphobic.”
On Tuesday, during Letterman's opening
Late Show monologue, the show's announcer, Alan Kalter,
feigned “trans panic” when Letterman announced that President
Obama's historic appointment to the U.S. Department of Commerce,
Amanda Simpson, was a transgender woman.
“What? Amanda used to be a dude? Oh
my God!,” Kalter screamed in disgust and then ran off the stage
upon hearing the news.
In a letter address to David Letterman
and carbon copied to Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment,
HRC called the skit “inappropriate.”
“The decision to ignore the fact that
Ms. Simpson is incredibly well-qualified for this vital national
security position and focus instead on her gender identity reflects
transphobia.”
“You may not be aware that the punch
line in your skit has been used as a defense in nearly every hate
crime perpetrated against transgender people that has come to trial,”
HRC said.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD), a GLBT media watchdog group, also asked for an
apology.
“Amanda Simpson and transgender
people want the same things all Americans do: to earn a living and be
recognized for their contributions to society,” Jarrett Barrios,
president of GLAAD, said in a statement. “Instead of using humor
to raise awareness about the lives of transgender people, the show
ridiculed the first transgender presidential appointee and one of the
most vulnerable minorities in this country.”
“By promoting unfair and cruel
reactions to transgender people, the David Letterman Show is feeding
an epidemic of discrimination and violence that currently faces
transgender Americans,” he added.
Simpson, 48, began her job Tuesday as
senior technical advisor to the Department of Commerce.