TODAY Show Australia host, Karl Stefanovic, has issued an on-air apology to viewers after comments he made were slammed for being transphobic. Many members of the LGBTQIA community called Stefanovic out for his use of outdated terminology, as “tranny” and “transvestite” are widely regarded as slurs unless the transgender person self-defines as such.
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“All of you who didn’t see the segment yesterday can learn from my mistake if you choose to, by using the word tr*nny I offended a lot of handsome, sensitive people”.
While not all transgender people reject the term “tranny”, it is not a respectful term for people outside the community to use.
He added: “I spoke after the show with a friend of mine who said what so many others have told me since: I crossed a line”. People, my brothers and sisters in the community who love and respect me, have told me to educate myself.
Although, the event itself was shocking enough, Karl Stefanovic, the presenter of Australian morning show “Today”, made it even more so when he found out the culprit was suspected to be a trans-gender. “I’ve never bothered to ask”.
Stefanovic’s remarks drew severe criticism from the LGBTQI community and social media users who accused the presenter of being ignorant and causing harm to the transgender community. “Yesterday, I was worse, an ignorant tool”, he said. But as a result of yesterday, I truly have learned a lesson.
“I have no understanding of what it’s like to feel like you are born in the wrong body, to feel uncomfortable in your own skin or the extreme courage it takes to accept yourself and live the life you’ve always wanted to live”, he continued, also asking any of the general public who found his jokes amusing at the time to learn from his mistakes.
“We’ve got a confit (police sketch) done up and we know not all trannies look the same – is that the tranny there that we’re talking about, Hugo Weaving like?” he said.
As he knew trans people as fun-loving, he thought they would laugh along with him. I take this very seriously, because I don’t know what it’s like to feel apart from the rest of mainstream society.
“I have no understanding of what it’s like to feel you were born in the wrong body, to feel uncomfortable in your own skin, or the extreme courage it takes to accept yourself and live the way you always wanted to live”.
“I have started to educate myself”.
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“Given the events of the a year ago, now more than ever we need to educate ourselves, laugh together and embrace each others differences and live with tolerance, compassion and most of all, love and respect for everyone”.
