Slate reporter and MSNBC contributor Dave Weigel, 29, Wednesday wrote a column and subsequently promoted it via Twitter by stating, “When comparing Weinergate to Chris Lee, remember: Lee was about to be caught hitting on transexuals.” Chris Lee was the Upstate New York Congressman who resigned within hours of the public learning he had sent a shirtless photo of himself to a woman not his wife. Later, news broke that Lee reportedly had been soliciting transgender women for sex via Craigslist, which earned Lee the nickname the “Craigslist Congressman.”
In “Chris Lee Didn’t Just Resign Over a Shirtless Photo,” Weigel, considered a conservative, writes at Slate that Lee, “didn’t just resign because Gawker published a photo he’d sent to a Craigslist connection. He resigned because there was more evidence that he was into transexuals and cross-dressers.” Weigel adds, “Now, look back at Weiner. What’s he accused of, as of today?” Weigels then says Weiner’s offense was “Embarrassing, but as sex scandals go, it’s not quite the same of hitting on transexuals.”
First, the preferred term is “transgender persons,” or, “transgender women,” not, “transexuals,” which, by the way, Weigel cannot spell correctly. (It’s transsexual,” if you must.) And the term “crossdressers” went out of fashion about a decade ago — regardless if that’s how Lee characterized them too.
But all this is minor in comparison to the obvious implication from Weigel that a sex scandal involving a transgender woman is a bigger offense than a sex scandal involving a heterosexual woman.
That is pretty offensive. If you don’t think so, basically, Weigel implies that there is something wrong with transgender people. There’s not, and I’m pretty tired of hearing hate and bigotry from the right.
“What was the nightmare scenario for Republicans if [GOP Congressman Chris] Lee stuck around A first-of-its kind scandal about an anti-gay marriage member of Congress who liked to flirt with male prostitutes who wore wigs and high heels?,” Weigel asks. “I’ll answer that for you: Pretty damn bad.”
What’s “pretty damn bad” is how quickly the word “prostitute” enters the picture in Weigel’s mind. I had to hunt for it in the Gawker story Weigel links to. Even then, Lee was not soliciting prostitutes. According to the Gawker story, a prostitute answered a “casual encounters” ad Lee placed.
But hey, the line between “transexuals” and “prostitutes” and “cross-dressers” is pretty thin, right Dave?
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