Amazon's Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan is under fire for using a transphobic slur. In the third episode of the new hit show, which premiered on August 31, a coworker is asked how he picked up a black eye. When he refuses to explain, the coworker jokes, "Did you accidentally pick up another tranny on Fremont Street?"
Activists, transgender individuals, and trans allies have spoken out about the unnecessary and offensive use of the transphobic slur.
Eliel Cruz, communications director of the NYC Anti-Violence Project, was one of the first to condemn the show, uploading the snippet from Jack Ryan to Twitter. He notes that we're currently amid a national crisis: Transgender women, especially transgender women of color, are being murdered at an alarming rate. In fact, within 24 hours of the shows premiere, two black trans women--Vontashia Bell, 18, and Dejanay Stanton, 24--were murdered in Shreveport, LA, and Chicago, respectively.
OUT reached out to Cruz to follow up on his tweets. He replied, "When we trivialize the violence trans women face, both in our language and in dismissing the realities of hate and pick up violence, we contribute to, and perpetuate, that violence."
The activist continued, "While the reality is that cisgender people use trans slurs and pick up violence affects trans women, Jack Ryan had an opportunity to confront this reality with a teachable moment. Instead, writers decided to affirm the idea that there is something shameful about cisgender men being with a trans woman or that trans women are actually men. This throwaway 'joke' is harmful in that it contributes to this culture of violence against trans people, especially trans women."
Cruz was not alone in his critique. Others were quick on Twitter to condemn the show's offensive joke.
\u201cafter finishing #jackryan I have this to say: \n1) why did anyone feel it was necessary to use trans slurs and violence to portray chumminess among service members? I get that sort of thing is present, but it wasn\u2019t necessary in the show.\u201d— John Brown Bag (@John Brown Bag) 1535841626
\u201c@elielcruz @jackryanamazon I\u2019m a trans man & I was so excited for this show. This part came on & I wanted to cry I can\u2019t watch it anymore cause of this line. Trans people are attacked everyday for just existing & the use of this slur advocates for that kind of treatment especially towards trans women\u201d— august \u2077 misses his boyfriend (@august \u2077 misses his boyfriend) 1535855943
\u201c@elielcruz @FiercelyTrans @jackryanamazon When I came to that part I was furious and shut it off. I\u2019m a huge jack Ryan fan and sickened me that they sunk that low, but I did finish all the episodes despite that and the drone pilot story line of that show was Fucking useless and the whole just didn\u2019t need to be in it\u201d— Baphomet Bitch (@Baphomet Bitch) 1535821266
