15 times your faves were transphobic

Sometimes even our faves let us down.

It’s rare to find a television show that doesn’t have a transphobic joke hidden somewhere between other perfectly innocent lines, and while Hollywood may be having what some have dubbed a “transgender moment,” it certainly hasn’t stopped transphobia at award shows, or in hiring practices, or in our media at large. Some celebs have basially made it their whole personality at this point. We all like things that have problematic aspects (except the one perfect person reading this—congratulations on being perfect), so there’s little point in condemning each other for consuming the media that’s available to us. But, it is important to recognize that whether it’s straight up hate speech, or “just a joke” transphobia hurts our community.

Here are 15 times your faves were transphobic, and here’s to hoping they’ll do better in the future.

1. Bette Midler

Not Miss Divine M!? We're afraid so. In 2022 Better Midler took to X to spew a transphobic rant. “WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name!" she wrote.“They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore; they call us ‘birthing people’ or ‘menstruators’, and even ‘people with vaginas’!” she continued. “Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!” Sigh.

2. Martina Navratilova on X 

Tennis champ and longtime LGBTQ+ hero Martina Navratilova is a real loser when it comes to her anti-trans views. In response to actor Daniel Radcliffe's heartfelt essay for The Trevor Project in which he affirmed his belief that trans women are women, Navratilova wrote "Just be quiet Daniel. Be quiet.' on Twitter. She further clarified, "“Because females need their sex-based spaces, that means no biological males, however, they might identify. That includes sports and the locker rooms.” And her comments on the subject haven't gotten any better sense.

3. J.K. Rowling making transphobia her personality

No list of transphobic celebs could be complete without Joanne. We're all still mystified by how she went from creating book series beloved by an anti-fascist fandom to turning transphobia into her whole personality. There are literally too many instances of her grotesque hatred to list here. But this one will forever sting.

4. Dave Chappelle making transphobia his act

Another painful loss to transphobia was the once beloved comic Dave Chappelle. His fall from grace in our eyes began with a 20 minute anti-trans set in 2017 at New York City’sRadio City Music Hall for which he recieved backlash, leading him to double and triple and quadruple down in his following stand up specials Sticks and Stones, The Closer, and The Dreamer.

5. Rebel Wilson’s Speech at the 2016 BAFTA Awards

At the 2016 BAFTA Awards, Pitch Perfect 2 star Rebel Wilson gave a deadpan speech, which she started by poking fun at those pointing out the diversity problem at the Oscars. “One day,” she said in the midpoint of the speech, “I hope to return here to win a BAFTA myself. I have already been practicing my transgendered face.” Then, she angrily pouted at the audience. Just to add a little fuel to the fire, she went on to say Idris Elba was making her a bit nervous, since she was “sociologically programmed to want chocolate on Valentine’s Day.” So if you don’t like jokes where trans people are the punch line, or where black people are compared to chocolate, it wasn’t a particularly funny speech. While some thought her jokes landed, many thought they did little but only in hot water.

6. Benedict Cumberbatch in 'Zoolander 2'

Outrage first began brewing about Benedict Cumberbatch’s role in the Zoolander 2 with the trailer’s release. Cumberbatch played the model All. Derek Zoolander asks, “Are you a male model or a female model?” to which Cumberbatch’s character replies, “All is all.” Then, Hansel asks (prepare for the transphobic punch line), “Well, I think he’s asking if you have a hot dog or a bun.” Fortunately, most critics seem to think the entirety of the film falls as flat as that joke.

Later Cumberbatch would admit that the role was mistake. “There was a lot of contention around the role, understandably now,” Cumberbatch told Penélope Cruz during Variety‘s “Actors on Actors” interview. “And I think in this era, my role would never be performed by anybody other than a trans actor. But I remember at the time not thinking of it necessarily in that regard, and it being more about two dinosaurs, two heteronormative clichés not understanding this new diverse world. But it backfired a little bit. But it was lovely to meet you in that brief moment and to work with Ben [Stiller] and Owen [Wilson].”

7. Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globe Awards

There seems to be a theme that we really hope will stop at awards shows this year. During the January 2016 Golden Globe Awards, Ricky Gervais unleashed a barrage of transphobic jokes. After promising he wouldn’t offend anyone (you know, in the way he's known to), he said, “I’ve changed. Not as much as Bruce Jenner, obviously. Now Caitlyn Jenner, of course. What a year she’s had. She became a role model for trans people everywhere, showing great bravery in breaking down barriers and destroying stereotypes. She didn’t do a lot for women drivers, but ... you can’t have everything.” He then joked about Jeffery Tambor hiding his “long balls” while in character as Maura on Transparent, and introduced Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl) as a “beautiful and talented actress,” before doing a double take with his cue card and announcing “It’s a dude!” Yuck, Gervais. Although, weirdly he may have unintentionally pointed out one of the serious problems with cis men playing trans women in television and film.

8. Gloria Steinem on 'Real Time with Bill Maher'

Gloria Steinem got in some hot water after she implied on Bill Maher that young women were voting for Bernie for the boys. She later apologized for that part of the interview, but the transphobia in the segment was quietly ignored. After the “boys are with Bernie,” bit, Maher went on to ask Steinem how she felt about Caitlyn Jenner being named woman of the year, and crudely referred to Jenner as a woman with "a dick." Steinem, in turn, brought up Martine Rothblatt, the highest-earning woman in the United States, saying, "The highest paid female in the corporate world, too, was a male previously, so, I mean, (scoffs).” It doesn’t seem like Steinem’s quite lived up to her theory that women get more radical with age.

9. Season 2 of 'Broad City'

Oh, Broad City. Why would you do this to us? The season 2 episode called “Citizen Ship” is one giant transphobic mess. Throughout the episode, Illana calls trans women numerous hurtful names, including “Annas with bananas,” and implies that only creepy Williamsburg lawyers have sex with trans women as a kind of kink. Then, Abbi, whose roommate doesn’t want to get engaged, tells the crowd she’s transitioning to distract the room. Yikes.

10. Michelle Rodriguez in 'The Assignment'

Michelle Rodriguez starred in The Assignment, about a transgender assassin bent on revenge against the evil doctor played by Sigourney Weaver (dammit, Sigourney!) who changed her from a man to a woman against her will. If you think there’s absolutely no way that plot could do anything good for trans representation, you’re not alone. GLAAD has already called the film “disappointing” and “sensationalistic.” When Rodriguez was questioned in November 2015 by TMZ about the film, she said, “I remember a day when white people were playing black people. It’s just about the evolution.” She ends the exchange by wrongly naming and gendering Caitlyn Jenner, saying, “Thank Kris Jenner for becoming who he became.” The whole thing is so bizarre that we’re just kind of left scratching our heads.

11. Roseanne Barr on Twitter

In 2012, Barr said on Twitter: “transgender folks should have their own safe bathrooms-they should not be FORCED into bathrooms with young girls who hate them there.” She went on to tweet: “if she has a penis, she is not allowed in.” There are more similar comments, and they keep coming, but you get the idea. If you grew up watching Roseanne, the comments are particularly brutal, since they’re coming from your favorite TV mom.

12. Like…all of Season 3 of 'The L Word'

The L Word broke many barriers, and provided important representation for so many people. Trans men were not included in that important representation. Max, played by Daniela Sea, transitions during season three, is constantly misgendered, and becomes pregnant (which is referred to as going through “motherhood”). The writers seemed to revel in torturing poor Max, and quite a few members of their audience as well.

13. The 'Mozart in the Jungle' pilot

The pilot episode of the award winning show, Mozart in the Jungle, threw in just a little transphobia. You know, just enough to establish their This-Is-An-Edgy-Show cred. The comment is said in passing between Lizzie and main character Hailey Rutledge. Lizzie, trying to impress a Juilliard dancer, asks Hailey, “Shit, how do I look? T****y train wreck?” Fortunately, the show gets better once you get past that cringe worthy moment.

14. John Cleese

John Cleese has been part of so many important comedy moments in history, but one moment in history he appears to be on the wrong side of its trans liberation. Dismissive is probably the nicest way we can describe his reaction to transphobia.

15. RuPaul on X and 'RuPaul’s Drag Race'

Oh, RuPaul. The number of transphobic things are hard to count. On a 2012 episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Comic Vicki Lawrence asked, “Hey Ru, what’s the difference between a drag queen and a transsexual?” to which RuPaul replied, “About twenty-five thousand dollars and a good surgeon.” In response to accusations of transphobia on the show, RuPaul tweeted, “I’ve been a ‘t****y’ for 32 years. The word ‘t****y’ has never just meant transsexual.”

Thankfully, unlike many others on this list RuPaul heard the feedback and has grown a lot on the subject. "Each morning I pray to set aside everything I THINK I know, so I may have an open mind and a new experience," he tweeted in March 2018. "I understand and regret the hurt I have caused. The trans community are heroes of our shared LGBTQ movement. You are my teachers."

This response honestly gives us hope for a few others listed here. Not Joanne or Dave, but, ya know, others.