Chelsea Handler Attacks Chaz Bono And We Should Be Surprised, Why?

Chelsea Handler, star of the late night show, “Chelsea Lately” on the E! Network, attacked Chaz Bono after news broke that Bono will be on ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars.”

Via the GLAAD blog:

Last night’s episode of Chelsea Lately repeatedly made a mockery of Chaz Bono’s transgender identity when discussing the transgender advocate’s upcoming appearance on Dancing With the Stars.  Host Chelsea Handler herself started the discussion off with a joke about Chaz Bono’s identity and anatomy, but was joined a few moments later by two members of her all-comedian panel in using transphobic humor to mock him.

Handler’s introduction:

Chelsea Handler: The Dancing with the Stars cast has been announced and, this is season 13, it includes Chaz Bono, otherwise known as Chastity Bono [laughs] before she got her penis [laughs]….

Out comedian Fortune Feimster soon said that she was personally most looking forward to watching Bono on the program, saying:

Fortune Feimster: I’m, I’m like you, I’m excited about Chaz Bono. Cause I used to watch the show…

CH: I wonder why. [laughs]

FF: It’s like reality gold, he’s like four reality shows in one, like who doesn’t love that?

This was immediately followed by jokes from comedians Bill Bellamy and Jo Koy, who has previously apologized for using anti-gay language:

BB: I mean who do you vote off? Him or her? I don’t know which one you want to do. [laughs]

JK: Does, does he/she have both parts? Like, like he’s like ‘I don’t want to use my penis, let’s use the vagina tonight.’ Like [laughs] I don’t know.

Disgusting.

What’s also concerning is that time and time again, people, including the folks at GLAAD, refer to Chelsea Handler as being supportive of the LGBT community. Perhaps she is. Sometimes. When it’s convenient.

The there’s this post, from Questioning Transphobia:

This time, it’s from E!, from Chelsea Handler, mocking Isis’ participation in America’s Next Top Model.

First: Tranny takeover?

Second: “Finally, the transgender community will have somebody to look up to besides John Travolta.”

Third: The little skit featuring what appears to be a cis woman playing a parody of a trans woman – characterizing her as a gay man – and constantly referring to herself as fundamentally male (hairy ass, spending years “on top,” “I can bring something to this competition no other girl can bring; two balls and a shaft,” “so pick me girls, because I’ll be fierce on the runway!”

And the final shot, she gets up, with a shot centered on her crotch, showing a very large penis in her very tight shorts.

This is a vulgar, stereotyped, parody of trans women, characterizing us as gay men with breasts, which is the fundamental underpinning of trans panic defenses. Further, this obnoxious portrayal was done by a cis woman.

Handler told the Advocate in 2009, “I’m like a gay man trapped in a woman’s body, and that’s exactly why the gays and I get along so well. We have the same attitude, which is ‘fuck everybody and let’s say exactly what we think.’ I understand somebody who doesn’t exactly fit in, somebody who’s struggled or felt embarrassed, ashamed, or not confident in who they are. Growing up, I got tortured and made fun of, but that makes you a lot stronger. And now, obviously, I’m very popular.”

Really? Because I don’t think all gay men say, “fuck everybody and let’s say exactly what we think,” any more than I think all straight men saying that.

And last year, despite all the folks who disagreed with me, (because it was coming from Chelsea Handler!), there was her “You say ‘ice dancing,’ I say ‘gay’.” comment via Twitter.

How about, “You say ‘Chelsea Handler,’ I say, ‘has a lot to learn’?”