Transphobic jokes in 2019? We're not about it.
Comedian Michael Che has landed himself in hot water after delivering a cringe-worthy transphobic skit in the latest episode of Saturday Night Live.
During a segment called 'Weekend Update', Che sloppily compared rapper Kanye West, whose latest album Jesus Is King , to Jenner, who . The joke centred on reports that West is planning alter some of his older songs to include G-rated lyrics.
“At first I thought Kanye was losing his mind, and now I feel like he’s fine, he’s just turning into an old white lady,” Che joked.
“I mean, he used to be one of the coolest black dudes on Earth. Now he’s showing up to events in sweatpants and orthopedic sneakers, listening to Kenny G and trying to get black people to like Trump. It’s like, how long before this guy changes his name to Kathy?”
“Now, you might think that I’m crazy, but about five years ago, there was a fella named Bruce Jenner, and he moved to Calabasas…"
As an old photo of Jenner then appeared on the screen, the audience was audibly unimpressed - with one audience member heard saying "no".
Social media users were quick to express their outrage, calling out Che's transphobia and calling for an apology.
"Michael Che's transphobic joke on Weekend Update about Caitlyn Jenner is unacceptable," one Twitter user wrote.
"SNL need to apologise and do better."
Another added: "Michael Che’s transphobic and misogynist BS has to go. It’s awful and totally not funny. He obviously has nothing left in the tank."
As writer Wren St. Fire explained in , deadnaming - the use of a trans person's birth name - can be harmful and disrespectful.
"Transgender people stuck with a name that belongs to a gender that they do not in any way identify with, or intersex individuals who were given a name based upon an incorrect assumption," they wrote.
"So we change them. And we ask that you respect that."
