In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Tuesday I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx/WOC community since I am Latinx.) Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
Caity Lotz, best known for her role on Legends of Tomorrow, is back at it again. In a move that surprised many (not us because we still remember the last time she displayed her privilege) she tweeted a video supporting Jordan Peterson. Peterson is a known transphobe and charlatan who pedals conspiracy theories. Lotz, in all her glory, could’ve responded to her fans with, “Woah! I wasn’t aware of that! Let this be a teaching moment for me.” Instead, she copy-pasted the same response, over and over, to anyone who dared point out that he might not be the type of guy she wants to associate herself with.
The privilege in her response is staggering and we need to break down why it is so infuriating.
Lotz plays an LGBTQ character on Legends of Tomorrow. Her character Sara Lance is a proud bisexual woman who is badass, kind, smart AF, and would have no time for Jordan Peterson and his transphobic bullshit. That’s why it’s so disappointing to see Lotz supporting a man like him. Her character would never do something like this. And it stains Sara Lance’s name and journey in a way that we don’t think she’ll ever recover from. At least in our hearts and minds.
“But she’s not supporting him!” Caity Lotz stans yell into the night sky.
Caity Lotz is supporting him. By tweeting about his work and giving it a little thumbs up, she is backing him and saying that she identifies with him and his work in some way. She is legitimizing him on her platform. And do you know the message that sends to her LGBTQ fans? That in the long run, she doesn’t care about building a safe space for them as queer people. She identifies with Peterson and that is greater than the thousands of people that see her as a shining beacon of queer representation.
“But supporting Peterson doesn’t make her a transphobe!” the rest of Caity Lotz stans yell on Twitter, losing steam with every breath they take, because they have no ground to stand on.
We’re going to leave that to actual transgender persons of the world. They get to make the decision if Caity, and those who support her supporting transphobic people, are transphobes. What we can say is that supporting Peterson makes Caity Lotz complicit and shows the depth of her privilege. She can afford to ignore the atrocities that happen to transgender people. It’s not part of her reality as a cisgender woman, so why should she care?
This shows a startling lack of empathy by Lotz to those who look up to her and they aren’t having any of it, if Twitter is any indication:
This is but a fraction of the tweets and posts from fans that are disappointed by Caity Lotz and her stand to back a transphobe. And just in case, if anyone needs to hear this or if it’s not been made abundantly clear, transgender issues and trasphobia are not a difference of opinion. Transgender issues are fundamental human rights. And transphobia, in a world where transgender people are dying because they are transgender, is something we must battle and denounce at every turn.
Trans rights are human rights. And those who don’t agree, can fuck off.
Queerly Not Straight posts every Tuesday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)
Wow when did life become so complicated?
…Rip Van Winkle
If she really supports Transphobic and his side like you say why she posted an exited post about the new Supergirl trans character?
Just because someone plays a character in a TV Show or movie does not mean that they do or do not support the particular characteristics of that character it also does not mean that they are afraid of what that character stands for. My question is why do people have to conform to others beliefs or be labeled phobic. We were founded on different beliefs and it those different beliefs that make us a true melting pot. We all need to think about that.