11.00am: The makers of a controversial tv ad for tampons should have been more explicit that the subject of their humour was not a trans-woman, says Jaimie Veale of Genderbridge. Veale herself believes the character was meant to be a drag queen, "but amongst the general public a lot of people do not understand the difference between drag queens and trans-women." Veale says Genderbridge members have expressed "diverse views" about the ad in the organisation's forun, "but the majority are against the ad, interpreting it as transphobic. I think those who are offended took it personally as the character could easily be themselves." Veale believes humour based on the identities of minorities such as trans people "is always difficult... In this case they are putting the drag queen or trans-woman down which is unpleasant." You can discuss this New Zealand gay community news story in the GayNZ.com Forum.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News
First published: Wednesday, 4th January 2012 - 10:58am