Dear Men of The Breakfast Club

www.allure.com by Janet Mock (@JanetMock) July 2017

the following was written in response to comments by Lil Duval, a comedian, who misgendered Janet, suggesting violence against transwomen is justified, and more on the same day as the announcement of the Military Transgender Ban was announce by President Trump. Here is part of Janet’s great response with a link to the complete article.

Dear Men of “The Breakfast Club”: Trans Women Aren’t a Prop, Ploy, or Sexual Predators

Janet Mock addresses the controversy following her appearance on the problematic radio show.<-/i>

I was not naïve when I entered the TriBeCa studio of “The Breakfast Club,” a hip-hop radio show that bills itself as “the world’s most dangerous morning show,” hosted by Angela Yee, Charlamagne tha God, and DJ Envy, on July 18.

I had watched previous interviews over the years and was familiar with their provocative and oftentimes problematic brand of talk. For instance, I remembered their interview with trans dancer and online personality Sidney Starr in 2013, and I recalled many times when they derogatorily used the term “tranny” with casual disdain. I witnessed the male hosts critique the bodies of black cis and trans women alike, as if we’re objects on display, open for dissection.

Yet I was hopeful that I could use the show’s vast platform to speak directly to their predominantly black and Latinx listeners, who are often excluded from the conversations held in mainstream LGBT spaces (which are largely white, moneyed, and concerned with the centering of cis folk). I hoped I could make listeners aware of the lived realities of their trans sisters, and let them know that we deserve to be seen, heard, and acknowledged without the threat of harassment, exclusion, and violence.