The Gay and
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation today condemned an
article in News Corp.'s New York Post tabloid
for a Page Six item referring to a transgender woman
as "she-male." The October 4 article was
about an upcoming dating show on Fox Reality Channel (also a
News Corp. property) called There's
Something About Miriam that features a
transgender woman from Mexico. According to a GLAAD press
release, when Page Six editor Richard Johnson was
contacted, his e-mail reply read, "I would have
used 'chick with dick' but we're a
family newspaper."
The show was originally aired in the United
Kingdom in 2004 on News Corp.'s Sky One
network. The show's premise, six male contestants
unaware that Miriam is transgender, has generated
controversy and condemnation for being exploitative
and portraying transgender people as trying to
"fool" or "deceive" others.
Rashad Robinson,
GLAAD senior director of media programs, said, "
'She-male' is a dehumanizing slur, and its use by The
New York Post -- not to mention the even more vulgar
slur that one of its editors claims he would have used
-- is only the latest confirmation of the
tabloid's disreputable practices." (The
Advocate)
