SNL Deadnames, Misgenders Caitlyn Jenner in Transphobic Segment

Saturday Night Live's Michael Che dragged Caitlyn Jenner's gender identity into a joke about Kanye West while Colin Jost laughed.

Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.

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Tracy E. Gilchrist

October 28 2019 10:43 AM EST

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During a rambling joke about Kanye West turning into an "old white lady" on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update, Michael Che deadnamed Caitlyn Jenner and called her a "fella." Trans people and allies have responded with outrage on Twitter with some demanding Che be fired. Meanwhile, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Chase Strangio called the SNL bit "dangerous" for trans people.

\u201cThe number 1 search related to my name is "Chase Strangio birth name". When large platforms like SNL deadname and misgender trans people it legitimizes the notion of trans-ness as spectacle and fraud. It isn't funny. It is dangerous.\u201d
— Chase Strangio (@Chase Strangio) 1572274653

Remarking on West's new album Jesus Is King and his decision to swap out some of old lyrics to make them less profane and more G-rated, Che said, "At first I thought Kanye was losing his mind, and now I feel like he's fine. He's just turning into an old white lady."

"I mean, he used to be one of the coolest black dudes on earth. Now he's showing up to events in sweatpants and orthopedic sneakers, listening to Kenny G, and trying to get black people to like Trump. It's like, how long before this guy changes his name to Kathy?" Che quipped.

But he didn't stop there. Che dragged West's wife Kim Kardashian's former stepparent Jenner, who came out as trans in 2015, into the "joke."

"Now, you might think that I'm crazy, but about five years ago, there was a fella named Bruce Jenner, and he moved to Calabasas ... " Che said feigning misgendering and deadnaming Jenner. Then he looked sheepishly at Weekend Update cohost Colin Jost who was laughing with his head in his hands.

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Strangio wasn't the only one to condemn the Weekend Update segment. Several Twitter users called it out as transphobic.

\u201cMichael Che about to try out the transphobic joke he was working on all week\u201d
— Will Long (@Will Long) 1572151427

None
— Ruk (@Ruk) 1572287686

None
— Urackum (@Urackum) 1572306287

\u201c.@nbcsnl Michael Che\u2019s transphobic and misogynist BS has to go. It\u2019s awful and totally not funny. He obviously has nothing left in the tank.\u201d
— Amy Johnson (@Amy Johnson) 1572150837