Uproar After "Survivor" Contestant Is Outed as Transgender

Survivor Greece: Ολόκληρο το συμβούλιο και η αποχώρηση του Χανταμπάκη 11/4/2017

No matter how heartfelt the outrage was, the controversy itself was premeditated. The Survivor episode was filmed months ago and the producers and CBS had a choice to make about whether to air the footage outing Mr. Smith on national television.

Once the decision to do so was made, Mr. Smith and his defenders prepared responses in the time before the broadcast of the episode. Several opinion columns on the matter were even written in advance, in effect highlighting the outing and stoking the reactions. And some critics have subsequently placed the blame with CBS, for airing it.

Mr. Smith himself wrote a column for The Hollywood Reporter published on Wednesday night, timed to the broadcast of the episode, and he also spoke to People about the episode.

When I got on a plane to Fiji last March, I expected to get voted out third, Mr. Smith, who is an asset manager in Brooklyn, wrote in The Hollywood Reporter. Id return home, laugh at my misadventure, and go about my life, casually trans in the same way that Zac Efron is casually Jewish.

He continued: In calling me deceptive, Varner invoked one of the most odious stereotypes of transgender people, a stereotype that is often used as an excuse for violence and even murder. In proclaiming Zeke is not the guy you think he is, and that there is deception on levels yall dont understand, Varner is saying that Im not really a man and that simply living as my authentic self is a nefarious trick. In reality, by being Zeke the dude, I am being my most honest self.

Reaction poured in.

Zeke Smith, and transgender people like him, are not deceiving anyone by being their authentic selves, and it is dangerous and unacceptable to out a transgender person, Nick Adams, an official with Glaad, the group formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said in a statement. It is heartening, however, to see the strong support for Zeke from the other people in his tribe. Moments like this prove that when people from all walks of life get to know a transgender person, they accept us for who we are.

Glaad said it had worked with Mr. Smith and CBS; the episode was not broadcast live.

Viewers were unforgiving.

The worst, cruelest moment ever on Survivor, one wrote on Twitter.

Stunned, another fumed. Cant believe anyone would take it to that level.

Mr. Varner, a real estate agent from High Point, N.C., published an apology to his Facebook and Twitter accounts shortly after the episode aired.

Yep. I did that, he wrote. And I offer my deepest, most heartfelt apologies to Zeke Smith, his friends and life allies, his family, and to all those who my mistake hurt and offended. I recklessly revealed something I mistakenly believed everyone already knew. I was wrong and make no excuses for it. I own responsibility in what is the worst decision of my life.

He added, Let me be clear, outing someone is assault.

Mr. Probst, who has hosted the American version of the show since its inception in 2000, told Entertainment Weekly that this was a unique event. In 34 seasons of Survivor, I have rarely, if ever, personally commented on what is said or done in the game, he said. I cannot imagine anyone thinking what was done to Zeke was O.K. on any level, under any circumstances, and certainly not simply because there was a million dollars on the line.

Some on social media pointed out that CBS could have chosen not to air the segment. No Probst, you told millions of people. #survivor, the recent contestant Max Dawson wrote on Twitter. Another former contestant, Eliza Orlins said on Twitter that including the outing moment was unavoidable. No way to edit around it. Yikes.

(Two spokeswomen for the show did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.)

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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNES-09gUZpOPMqbGoVqcVZ-wZ6R4Q&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779458095864&ei=I6TvWMiyEYLFqgLtj5SABA&url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/arts/television/survivor-contestant-transgender.html