Gay Group Demands Letterman Apologize for Mocking Transgender Appointee Amanda Simpson

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: ABC News

The country's largest gay-rights group today demanded an apology from David Letterman, for making what it called "inappropriate and incendiary remarks" regarding President Obama's appointment of a transgender woman to the Commerce Department.

In his monologue Tuesday, Letterman remarked that Amanda Simpson, a transgender woman, had been appointed to work in the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, where she will monitor the export of military technology.

As a photograph of Simpson was shown, announcer Alan Kalter shouted, "What? Amanda? Amanda used to be a dude?"

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/gay-group-demands-letterman-apologize-mocking-transgender-appointee/story?id=9496127

[dkf]

1. Dammit I can't see the word inappropriate without thinking of Carrie Prejean scolding Larry King.

Going back to the story I feel bad for Ms Simpson. She says it sucks to be the first of anything. I wish we could simply congratulate her on a well deserved appointment and applaud any successes that come her way. We make a big deal when sometimes a person just wants to do a good job and not have to be put out there to be talked about.

[orion007]

2. Annise. Parker ,the FIRST white lesbian Mayor of Houston

This headline was used when Ms.Parker became the Mayor of Houston.
Wow,I thought, I didn't know that Houston already had had a Black, Asian or Latino lesbian Mayor already.
Could not understand why white was mentioned, and by more then one media outlet.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[crikkett]

13. Wow.

"Could not understand why white was mentioned,"
Had I noticed, I would have read the article to find out.
:popcorn:

[alex456]

4. It's comedy.

Like the Letterman-Palin debacle before, people need to relax. A comedy show is a comedy show; they make jokes. And this was a pretty mild one IMO. The way the last few months have gone for Letterman, I expect a mock Chris Crocker video soon - Just Leave Dave Alone!

[tomm2thumbs]

5. hopefully Amanda will do a cameo on Letterman to work this out

best defense is a good offense, and while the video could be seen as offensive by some, it could also prove to be a pivot point in the conversation - let's hope it gets used for that

[Robb]

6. I can see that

Then the whole thing goes down the tubes as they book Aerosmith as the musical guest.

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. It would seem that she is not too eager to be in the spotlight to begin with

[Bucky]

9. That would be the perfect solution. Go on his show and force him to see her as a person

Once you recognize someone's humanity, it becomes harder to demean & ridicule them.

[robcon]

8. I don't think it was "inappropriate" or "incendiary"

It was funny, and made fun of the guy who walked out.

[Jim Lane]

10. Exactly -- this bit wasn't mocking Simpson, it was mocking her transphobic detractors

Simpson has been nominated to a Commerce Department post that something like 99% of all Americans have never even heard of. If she's confirmed, then there'll be someone who "used to be a dude" who's playing a role in the export of military technology. To see this as a cause for panic is absurd. Kalter was portraying a fundie type who wildly overreacted based on irrational bigotry.

The audience was laughing at the Kalter character, not at Simpson.

[tonekat]

11. I'm trans and I agree with you on this Jim

The show should not have addressed her gender in the first place, which makes me think the writers didn't have many ideas that day. But Ms. Simpson has received a bit of (unwanted) publicity about her gender, and for high profile people things like this happen.

Yeah, the numbnuts will snicker about it, but they're just proving the point that they didn't get the joke as intended.

[avaistheone1]

14. Yuppers

[Zhade]

16. That's the thing -- she didn't "used to be a dude". She never was.

She just had male plumbing.

[brendan120678]

12. I was watching Letterman Tuesday evening...

when this bit started. It was late, and I was getting sort of drowsy. Of course, the TV's sleep timer shut the TV off just as the picture of Amanda went up on the screen, so I missed the punch-line of the bit.

Doesn't really sound to me like it was mocking Amanda, but rather making fun of Alan - who is frequently the fall guy for Dave's jokes.

[alp227]

15. I watched it too (DVR'ed though to get rid of the commercials)

Thinking about it, I think Letterman intended the viewers to laugh at Kalter, not Simpson. I think this is just PC run amok. If the same standard applied to every subject that Letterman or other late night hosts satirized, then the monologues would be only 25% as long. I've watched late night shows for years and have heard the hosts targeting race and sexuality albeit in a mild manner compared with the wannabe jokes of right-wing hate radio hosts.

The Human Rights Campaign's letter to the Letterman staff/CBS stated: "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." (that's the gay panic defense) Well, I wonder where the controversy was when the South Park episode "Chef Aid" used the "Chewbacca Defense", a satire of Johnnie Cochran's "the glove didn't fit" closing argument defending OJ Simpson in Simpson's murder case. Who was saying: "The punch line in this episode was used as a successful defense in the most notorious murder case of the 1990s where the 'real killer' hasn't been identified if OJ Simpson hasn't been innocent"?

[totodeinhere]

17. I don't think that DL meant any harm.

He actually is a very good progressive. For every incident like this there are many more when he mocks wingnuts like Palin.