First, an admission: I am no expert on the science of gender identity. Not even close.
I still stumble and bumble over the right pronouns and occasionally say naive and ignorant things about the topic because, frankly, I’m still learning.
But after helping to plan and stage a News & Record forum on gender identity in 2016, I at least began to understand and appreciate the confusion and angst that can result from feeling you are trapped in a body that does not reflect who you really are.
And the pressure you can feel from others who want to shape you in their image, according to their view of the world — never mind that it's none of their business.
“Being a teenager in the United States is not easy,” a transgender woman from Durham, Candis Cox, said during that forum, which attracted a crowd of 300 to the old Empire Room in downtown Greensboro.
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“And when you add to it that you are part of a marginalized community, it’s even harder,” Cox said. “We now have people in positions of high power who are inviting their supporters to be very vocal in saying, ‘There’s something wrong with you. You are a sexual predator.’”
Those words were said in the wake of HB 2, Gov. Pat McCrory’s insipid bathroom law that made a spectacle of North Carolina and raised irrational fears of men invading women’s restrooms and assaulting wives and children. Like critical race theory today, HB 2 was a trumped-up solution in search of a problem that cost the state millions in economic development and villainized an already persecuted minority.
Now, five years later, along comes Dave Chappelle.
The popular comic's new Netflix standup special, “The Closer,” has created a media storm because of Chappelle's obvious fixation on whom he calls "these transgenders."
Incidentally, Chappelle references North Carolina twice in "The Closer." First, he takes on HB 2, and makes a very good case for how ridiculous it was. Later, he mentions Greensboro in what appears to be a mistaken reference to the city where the Charlotte rapper DaBaby fatally shot a man. Though DaBaby once attend UNCG, the shooting actually happened in Huntersville.
In any case, in series of raunchy, rambling riffs that are much more provocative than they are funny, Chappelle makes clear what he thinks of transgender people — which is not much. Though he makes some valid points about racism within the LGBTQ community, most of what he has to say is mean and judgmental. And curious.
If I were to capsulize the theme of "The Closer," it's that Chappelle is offended because trans people are offended that he has attacked them.
As for why the trans community rankles him so — and why take on a minority that has suffered plenty without being made fun of on an international stage? Who knows?
Though some of Netflix's employees have demanded that the new special be pulled, the mega-streamer has resisted.
Meanwhile, Chappelle’s defenders claim that he is a victim of “cancel culture.” Please. Some of our best comedians have been known for being edgy, pushing the limits of taste and shattering taboos to expose greater truths. But all Chappelle seems to do when his routine targets trans people is to be meanspirited and angry.
And when somebody pushes back, he’s the victim?
Consider that trans people comprise less than 1% of the U.S. population. Consider also that trans youth, who are often bullied and ostracized, are more prone to attempt suicide because of the day-to-day pressures of simply being themselves. According to The Trevor Project’s third annual National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, released in May, 52% of all transgender and nonbinary young people in the U.S. seriously considered killing themselves in 2020.
Ironically, Chappelle also mentions the suicide of a transgender friend (he implies it could have happened because she defended him on Twitter).
And ironically, this is the same Dave Chappelle who had a crisis of conscience at the height of the popularity of his weekly sketch series on Comedy Central.
Chappelle walked away from “Chappelle’ Show” amid his concerns that, instead of bridging the racial divide, his humor was being misconstrued by white audiences.
So, what does he think making fun of trans people is accomplishing now?
I’ve always thought that the best comedians, like the best journalists, excel “at comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.”
And here Chappelle is, bullying a very small, vulnerable and already marginalized group.
So shed a tear for a millionaire comedian if you must. And please pardon me if I won’t join you.