For those of you who watched Wednesday night’s episode of Survivor, you saw the awful moment that Jeff Varner outed his tribe-mate Zeke Smith as transgender at tribal council. It was perhaps the lowest moment I’ve seen in Survivor and a lesson in what to never do, whether inside a game or not. I’m here to echo what many have already said. What Jeff Varner did was wrong. No one has the right to out anyone. It is for that person only to share with who they like. Outing a trans person puts them at risk of physical danger and prejudice. Perpetuating a stereotype that trans people are being dishonest and deceptive is dangerous and irresponsible. A person’s right to privacy regarding their gender history is not a deception and trans people are not being deceptive by living as their authentic selves.
The only silver lining of the moment was seeing how strongly the rest of the tribe immediately condemned Jeff’s actions. Zeke handled the situation with dignity and grace and is a role model for us all.
Zeke wrote poignantly about his experience on Survivor and beyond for The Hollywood Reporter and I highly recommend giving it a read.
For tips for allies of transgender people, check out GLAAD.
Other things happened during the episode but I won’t be discussing them this week. We’ll be back to regular recaps next week, hopefully. Be kind everyone.
Photo Credit: CBS
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