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“A dream you dream alone is only a dream; a dream you dream together is reality.” — Yoko Ono
Nov
22
Radio Host Endorses Reasons for Murder of Transgender Woman
Filed Under LGBTQ, assholes, bigotry, gender, human rights, media, offensive remark of the week, patriarchy, social conservatives, trans, transphobia and trans misogyny, violence against women and girls | Posted by Cara |
Right-wing Minneapolis radio host Chris Baker decided to tie together a story about Thomas Beatie — “the pregnant man” — and another transgender person, Lateisha Green (or Teish Cannon; I’ve also seen her name spelled “Latiesha”) who was murdered in a hate crime just a few days ago. I came across this story on Wednesday but have waited until now to run it, because I did not want to publish hate speech like this on, or the day before or the day after, the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Please be aware that the text below contains truly vile and potentially triggering hate speech.
This is what Baker had to say, after going on and on about how Beatie is “really” a “she.”
There’s a very sad story about a transgender man. It’s a guy who thinks he’s a woman, just so we clarify. Shows up to a party and some guy with an extensive criminal record, by the way, and a history of weapons charges, shot him, killed him — terrible story. My question is: One, why is this guy with the extensive prison record, or shall we say, criminal record, and extensive list of weapons charges, why is he not in jail in the first place?
Second of all, I believe that the fault, and I know, ’cause already I’m seeing quotes and comments and, “Oh, it’s hate. It’s a hate crime. It’s a horrible hate crime.” Doesn’t some of the blame lie with the American media who enables this fraud? Doesn’t some of the blame — I would say a majority of the blame does not lie with the nitwit that shot him, other than the fact that he’s a nitwit and a guy who should have been in prison in my opinion, who shot him. But to me, this is the — this is an example of how, by enabling people and trying to push this false reality, leads to horrible crimes like this, by — by telling people, “Oh, well, you know, he — did he get pregnant?”
Putting aside for just a single second the inherent and extreme offensiveness and disrespect in referring to Lateisha as a “he” over and over again, let me ask — what exactly does Baker mean by those of us who support trans people and their rights enabling the murder? After all, how could we be enabling the murder by calling for respect? Unless, of course, the hatred is valid and acceptable, and encouraging people to live their lives authentically and as they see fit is akin to provoking that entirely legitimate violent hatred.
Unfortunately, yes, that is what Baker seems to mean. Because he continues.
So annoying for me, but there’s a story today, it’s a very — it’s a horrible story from Syracuse, New York. A guy’s been charged with murder after he shot two people last week. One of them was a transgender person. So, now, they’re talking about hate crime charges, things like that. Look, this guy is a murderer and should go to jail. This guy should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
But I personally believe that by the media and all these other people out there enabling these people that they put people like this at risk, because they give them the boldness, the confidence, the — to decide, “Well, you know what? I’m a girl. Even though I’m not a girl, I’m a girl. And the media will call me a girl, so, therefore, I can walk into any party I want. I can go anywhere I want. I can demand whatever I want and no one can stop me because the media is going to call me a girl.”
Well, guess what? In my opinion, other than the fact that the guy that allegedly murdered this guy — and this guy I’m talking about would be the transgender guy. I promise I’m just getting this off my chest. This is just driving me nuts.
I believe the media and the rest of the enablers out there, they have this guy’s blood on their hands because they create this false sense of reality and they enable people who need serious psychological counseling. I mean, what guy in his right mind would have his stuff cut off? Now, there’s a lot of women in their right mind that would like to do that to a guy, but what guy in his right mind wants to have his stuff cut off? What woman in her right mind wants to have her breasts removed? I mean, do they notice the millions of dollars women spend every year in this country to get bigger ones?
This whole thing is — it’s just infuriating to me. You know why? Because I gotta explain this to my kids.
Well yes, Baker, I can see how annoying it must be to have to explain to your kids what a fucking bigot you are. That must suck. Way more, in fact, than being dead because of that bigotry. Eh, who cares about that? Baker has to sit down and talk to his kids about why Lateisha is dead!
But I somehow doubt that he’s going to give them an honest answer. He’s not going to tell them “well, people like daddy are repulsed by people like Lateisha, because we’re close-minded and hateful. And when people are close-minded and hateful, they tend to do hateful, irrational violent things. You’ll understand someday, when you’re old enough to think so fearfully, stupidly and with such bigotry yourselves.”
That is of course the very obvious irony here. There is only one group enabling the murders of women like Lateisha, and it’s the group that Baker belongs to. The group that can’t go more than a few sentences talking about transgender people without calling them “delusional” or mentally ill. The group that’s choosing to flaunt their supposedly superiority by refusing to use correct pronouns. The group that doesn’t think she had the right to “walk into any party she wanted,” because after all rights are only for some of us. The group that justifies on public airwaves the kind of violence that is inflicted everyday on transgender people because others just don’t like who they are.
Baker is enabling Lateisha’s murderer by saying that it wasn’t a hate crime. By saying that the hate his justified. By blaming the victim for having the audacity to live her life.
Baker is a walking, talking piece of shit. And if anyone’s worthy of the kind of disgust he’s dishing out, it’s him.
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“Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” — Susan B. Anthony
Good post.
In the first quoted section, I thought he was saying that the media “enabled” these sorts of crimes by making people into celebrities of a sort. He’s not very coherent, so it’s difficult to really grasp his meaning.
But reading on, it’s clear that you’re right and he’s saying people who accept transgender people for who they are are enabling them by making them think they have a right to be humans or something. I was most astounded by “therefore, I can walk into any party I want. I can go anywhere I want.”
Um? Transgender people wouldn’t think they had the right to walk into parties if we didn’t tell them they did? I’m pretty sure most people think they have the right to walk into parties. If they live somewhere where they don’t have that right, I’m pretty sure they think they at least should have it. WTF?
And I was also shocked by “I mean, what guy in his right mind would have his stuff cut off?” Well, you know, a guy who IS NOT REALLY A GUY? How is that hard to grasp?
But worst of all by far, to me, is “What woman in her right mind wants to have her breasts removed? I mean, do they notice the millions of dollars women spend every year in this country to get bigger ones?”
First of all, way to say women with breast cancer are not in their right minds. Second of all, way to claim it’s somehow MORE SANE to get elective surgery to look like a Barbie doll than to get surgery to look like the gender that you really are.
UGH.
What a wanker.
I go to Syracuse University and only heard about this by chance on the local news, where they unsurprisingly referred to Lateisha as a “he.”
I’m really glad to see coverage about this crime on the blogs, even if it’s bullshit like this radio show. I don’t see why people are so offended by transgendered people! Just because this guy happened to be born with a gender that matches his biological sex doesn’t make him a better person. Just because you feel comfortable with the “stuff” you’ve got down there. Yuck. Just yucky words.
Ugh. I feel I should apologize for this guy ’cause we live in the same city. I laways wonder- why is it so hard to refer to people the way they want to be referred to?
P.S. Cara, what are you doing in MN?
Grr. should have been “I always wondered..”
P.S. Cara, what are you doing in MN?
I’m not! I got the story from Media Matters.
Lindsay wrote a similar post on our blog, and we had a reader (granted, a markedly MRA, anti-feminist reader) say that he “might actually be mad about this” but the fact that Lindsay linked to Media Matters basically meant he couldn’t be bothered to care (although she did provide links not to Media Matters).
Excuse me!?
Nothing like making excuses for those who make excuses for the murder of innocent people.
I’m kind of disgusted.
“I mean, what guy in his right mind would have his stuff cut off? Now, there’s a lot of women in their right mind that would like to do that to a guy, but what guy in his right mind wants to have his stuff cut off? What woman in her right mind wants to have her breasts removed? I mean, do they notice the millions of dollars women spend every year in this country to get bigger ones?”
Look! Look! All the *other* people who look like you are acting one way! You are acting a different way than other people who look like you? You must be insane! (And of course murdering insane people is TOTALLY OK!)
So disgusting…
Thanks for posting this, even if it’s disgusting and depressing I’d rather know this sort of thing is going on than not know at all.
Amazing – absolutley amazing.
Oh for fuck’s sake! What a horrible, hateful, sticky little man with delusions of superiority and grandeur. Ugh. Is there an email address for that radio station so we can write in and complain about that filth on the air?
According to Media Matters:
Steve Versnick – Program Director
sversnick@clearchannel.com
(952)417-3265
A “nitwit” is the correct term for my upstairs neighbour who has outdoor parties in the summer and leaves empty beer cans strewn across the yard until I eventually pick them up myself. I believe the correct term for the man who is being referred to is “murderer.”
Maybe I am “nit-picking” (HAHAHA), but this reminds me of when, say, an entire family is murdered or some woman is raped and killed and the press refers to it very politely as an “incident.”