In light of the world seemingly turning on its head in the last couple of months, people are curious as to how they can be better allies to the LGBT community. It’s great to see so many people actively trying to do something to better themselves to aid our community, but because of the fact that a lot of our allies aren’t as familiar with the politics and discourse that surround us, they might not be as familiar with the people who are harmful to us. Most people are ready to support any LGBT celebrity the moment they come out, mostly out of fear of being labeled as a homophobe if not doing so.
But while that’s a well-intended sentiment, a lot of allies don’t realize that, while these people aren’t doing anything wrong inherently just by coming out, they are, or have done, things that are harmful to people who identify as some aspect of LGBT (i.e. being lesbian and biphobic, gay and transphobic, etc).
Kate McKinnon
McKinnon is SNL’s first openly lesbian cast member, and while her Hilary Clinton and Justin Beiber impersonations are great liberal humor, it’s difficult to overlook her transphobic past. In 2007, McKinnon was in the sketch-comedy series The Big Gay Sketch Show on Logo. On the show, she portrayed the character Fitzwilliam, who was supposed to be a trans woman and constantly made jokes about how much Fitzwilliam wanted a vagina.
It is already bad enough that McKinnon is a cis woman portraying a trans woman, but to add insult to injury and portray the horrible stereotype that all trans women must have gender reassignment surgery to be considered “real women” is incredibly toxic and something that she has yet to apologize for.
Erika Moen
Moen is most known for her weekly comic strip “Oh Joy Sex Toy” where she and her husband Matt review sex toys and give lessons on sex ed. While this initially sounds like a very well-intended idea, but Moen and her husband have taken so many left turns that it’s impossible to understand why she still has so much credibility and platform.
Last week Moen posted a comic on cuckolding, a kink (which isn’t really a kink but more of an unhealthy relationship dynamic) that focuses on adultery and infidelity in a relationship. This kink has very racist roots in slavery (cuck and bull being words slave masters would use to describe male slaves who would not bend easily to their will). This would later evolve into the race play kink where white couples would often seek out black males to fulfill this disgusting excuse of a kink and would eventually form into the cuckolding that Moen talks about in her comic.
As if that weren’t enough, Moen, who identifies herself as a lesbian but is married to a man, allows her husband to use the d*ke slur, a slur that was reclaimed by the lesbian community and is only meant for lesbian use. She also has an extensive history of fetishizing trans men and has referred to packers, a device used by trans men to resemble the look and feel of a real penis, as sex toys that are free for all to use.
Arielle Scarcella
If you’ve browsed YouTube for LGBT content creators, you’ve most likely stumbled upon Arielle Scarcella before. While she has created some very funny videos that revolve around lesbian culture, she has also made some glaring flaws throughout her career.
Most notably, Scarcella has stated that pre-transitioning trans men are the same as butch lesbians, said that there are only two genders, and made a video where she interviewed a lesbian trans woman but did so under the title “Would You Date A Lesbian With A Penis?” and continually used cissexist language throughout said interview.
Although Scarcella has since apologized for the comments about two genders, it is still important to take her videos with a grain of salt. Scarcella repeatedly spoke on trans issues when she has no right to as a cisgender woman, speaking over trans people and pushing them farther from the spotlight that they need and deserve to speak upon their experiences and lives.
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