Late night comedian Conan O’Brien apologized Tuesday after his so-called joke against transgender people turned decidedly sour. During the June 12 edition of the “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” show’s week in Chicago, O’Brien noted that one of the city’s nicknames is “the City of the Big Shoulders,” then quipped that that name “…was better than the name they almost went with… ‘the unconvincing tr*nny.”
GLAAD contacted producers of the show after San Diego LGBT Weekly columnist Autumn Sandeen became aware of the joke and reached out.
LGBT’s voices were heard on Twitter after the O’Brien joke aired, with Janet Mock, editor at People magazine, who is a trans woman, tweeting, “@ConanOBrien You’re better than your “unconvincing tr*nny” bit. You’ve deeply offended a fan who’s trans…” and Jamie Clayton who added, “I used to LOVE @ConanOBrien. Now, after he used the “T” word, not so much. Come on Conan, be a man and apologize to all the #GirlsLikeUs.”
Sandeen told GLAAD, “I’m so tired of my peers and I being so frequently portrayed as monsters. I wish that media would recognize that transphobia is monstrous, and if they know the one salient fact about us that we’re trans they don’t know everything about our three-dimensional lives.”
O’Brien apologized by saying:
My staff and I had no idea that term was offensive to the transgender community. We apologize and you will not be hearing that term again.
The Late Night with Conan staff confirmed the joke will also be removed from the show’s website.
Unbelievably offensive.
Unbelievably offensive!
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