by: Autumn Sandeen
This diary is second media commentary regarding how trans people are talked about on television in two days, but in this commentary I'm going to take a more educational tone than I did in my last piece.
For those of you who don't follow MTV's America's Best Dance Crew, you should probably should be aware at the start of this piece there is an extremely talented dance crew on the show of four African-American gay men and one self-identified transgender woman. The name of this incredible dance crew is Vogue Evolution. The female dancer in this crew -- Leiomy -- gave a particularly jaw-dropping performance in week two's Beyonce Challenge.
But, in the fourth episode of this series, there were behind the scenes comments by judge Lil Mama to the dancer Leiomy that has upset many trans people. And, I'm one of the ones who's somewhat disquieted by Lil Mama's insensitive comments.
Basically, in attempting to exhort Leiomy about behaving like a first class performer, Lil Mama used some less than sensitive language to make the point.
Lil Mama: "Leiomy, your behavior. Come on. It's unacceptable. I just feel that you always have to remember your truth. You were born a man, and you are becoming a woman. If you're going to become a woman, act like a lady. Don't be a bird, like "oh my god, I'm not doing this." You know what I'm saying, it gets too crazy, and it gets confusing. You're doing this for America. Even though you're the face for transgenders, you're the face for America right now with this group, and it's not about anybody else, it's about y'all. So do it for the team."
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/12761/a-failure-of-cultural-sensitivity-to-trans-people-on-mtvs-americas-best-dance-crew
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