Channel 4 say they are ‘right’ to broadcast ‘tranny catfish’ slurs on First Dates
PinkNews Exclusive
Channel 4 has defended airing a scene in First Dates in which a man joked about going on a date with a “tranny”.
In the scene, broadcast last week and which remains online, a man claims that he was “catfished by a tranny” before laughing about her having a ‘bigger penis’ than him.
His date then pretends to reveal that she is transgender as a joke.
The UK’s largest LGBT charity, Stonewall, has condemned the broadcaster for airing the transphobic exchange.
In the segment, Ricky, a 29-year-old cage fighter recalls: “So I turned up at the bar and I saw her and, ‘do you want a drink?’ and all the rest of it, and then I’ve just gone, ‘light bulb’.
“Mid-sentence I stopped her and went, ‘can I ask you a question?’”
Holly, 24, then interjects to suggest he asked the trans woman: “How big is your penis?”
“Is it bigger than mine?” he replies, joking about the woman he had met for a date.
Asked for an anecdote in reply, Holly then pretends to come out as transgender.
“I actually cage fight and I’ve never been more scared in my life,” Ricky replies.
https://twitter.com/theFoxFisher/status/917495112338419717
A spokesperson for Channel 4 told PinkNews: “First Dates is renowned for its inclusivity, sincerity and honesty and it reflects people from all kinds of backgrounds and in this instance the dater was using his own turn of phrase.
“Channel 4 took the view that it was right to keep the story in the broadcast.”
LGBT activists have slammed the scene as “transphobic”, “disgusting” and “totally unacceptable”.
Transgender viewers wrote on Twitter that they felt “uncomfortable” and “gutted” to see the comments aired.
Stonewall told PinkNews: “We’re extremely disappointed that Channel 4 chose to air an episode of First Dates earlier this month that included a transphobic exchange between two contestants, without condemning the use of hateful language or calling it out as wrong.
“Channel 4 and First Dates have covered trans people’s stories well in the past, and so we were surprised to see this was deemed acceptable to broadcast.
“We’re currently in talks with Channel 4 to find out more about how this happened, and what the next steps will be to prevent it from happening again.”
Nearly half of all transgender children experience depression or anxiety issues, with considerable evidence that bullying and negative media representation plays a role.
Four in ten trans children have considered suicide, according to Stonewall.
Fox Fisher, a trans activist who appeared on My Transexual Summer, told PinkNews: “This just shows that First Dates and Channel 4 don’t realise the severity of enforcing transphobia on national television, and the negative impact this has on the lives of trans people.
“It’s very harmful and irresponsible of them to deliberately include this in the show.
“What is also notable is that the same production company that makes the show produced My Transsexual Summer, which makes it even worse that they’d still air blatantly transphobic material.
“When some people complained about this, Channel 4 answered with saying that this wasn’t about all trans people and that this was seen as a ‘little funny anecdote’.
“It’s just appalling that they’d find describe this as funny. Would they ever describe it as a funny anecdote if someone used the n-word about black people or the f-word about gay people?”
Other viewers took to Twitter to express their disappointment.
