Outrage After Urban Outfitters Makes A “Closet Tranny” Joke On A Gag Card
Urban Outfitters is the latest organization to be slammed with a Trannygate scandal: Yes, we already knew Urban was a company that hates the gays—even Miley Cyrus is up on the fact that owner Richard Haynes donates to Santorum.
Still, this is a new stain on their brand of hipsterwear.
A “funny-ha-ha” gag gift card, which has been pulled from their website after Internet outrage bubbled up on Reddit yesterday, reads:
“Jack and Jill / Went up the Hill / So Jack could see Jill’s fanny / But Jack got a shock / And an eyeful of cock / Because Jill was a closet tranny.”
It’s something your mom might chuckle at without realizing that it’s offensive to transgender people. Couldn’t they have found something different to rhyme with “fanny” than “tranny”?
@travis518: I love your logic. It’s like saying everyone dies therefore we should abolish hospitals.
@Queerty: Calling Urban Outfitter’s ridiculously affordable hipsterwear is an insult… to hipsters everywhere.
Oh my God! That rhymes. Maybe I should work for Urban Outfitters!
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I showed it to a transexual at our church service
and she thought it was funny.
Some people just look for any reason to be offended.
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im offended and im a transsexual….why??? because many small minded bigots out there that takes us as a joke TILL NOW….for people who thinks its not offensive???? its dumb specially if ur gay if ever stop the segregation we feel more abused and hatred then u….
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@parasite eve: Well I’m offended by your Grammar and logic, but no one will stop you now will they?
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Uncanny, and Danny – only things I can think of that rhyme with fanny.
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If the punchline was “Cos Jill was actually Danny”, would it be less offensive?
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@Christopher Banks: That would’ve been better.
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Will any of the Trans people on here tell me something that Trans people could see as funny.
I get the fact that trans people are/can be picked on, esp MtF… but come on… something out there has to be funny to you.
Gay men are pretty much portraid as silly fems… Like Jack on will and grace… or the guys on modern family etc…. We all laugh because they are funny… even when they wave their arms in the air and scream like little school girls.
SO… Trans people… What makes you laugh about members of your community?
or… is there nothing funny at all???
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I could easily imagine this card selling at any LGBT gift/card shop with no controversy at all. In fact you would find much more purposefully offensive cards there.
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That was funny.
Calm down and scrape the sand out of your vagina, Queerty. You too Reddit.
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@JAW: said..
“Gay men are pretty much portraid as silly fems… Like Jack on will and grace… or the guys on modern family etc…. We all laugh because they are funny… even when they wave their arms in the air and scream like little school girls.”
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ACtually I have to admit that I think the character of Cam is a sad, poorly done, low rent imitation of Nathan Lane in “The Birdcage”. I think the Character of Mitchel is great, but Cam is beyond offensive.
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@Evan Mulvihill: said…
“@Christopher Banks: That would’ve been better.”
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Evan, are you Transgender? If not, I find it odd that you would set yourself up as judge and jury on what their community would and would not find offensive or not offensive.
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@Cam:
I find Mitchel almost as bad as Cam… he talks with a bit of a lisp… no nothing about sports, does not know how to use a hammer etc, As a gay man, I find that offensive… but I laugh.
Cam… I am not sure if you are a GLB or T… so perhaps IC things differently then you.
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That card/rhyme is hilarious, you guys gotta lighten up.
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How tiresome. I think the trans community wanted their own offensive term. So even though the t word doesn’t have the violent history of the f word or the n word, they made it into a major insult. And though we let friends and family use the f word, no one can use the t word. It could be a play for attention.
Here’s another difference between us. Gay humor often has a cruel edge to it. It’s what comes of looking reality square in the face. Meanwhile, there seems to be no such thing as trans humor. So never the twain shall meet.
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I think you gotta look at the source here to see why it’s offensive. If an LGBT-positive company had put it out as a way to make fun of those who would normally use that word hurtfully, or of a trans person had made this card, then yes, it would be cute and funny. It’s a homophobic company led by a blatantly homophobic CEO who put out this card. It’s not meant to be laughing with you at all, it’s laughing at you.
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This is actually funny! I know Trans people who’d find this to be funny and love it!
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@Christopher: are u beautifull??? lets compare each other physically ignorant queen :-) if not ur not on my level so dont comment ok??? :-)
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@Evan Mulvihill: Erm nope, because that implies a trans woman is a guy. Just sayin’.
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@WillBFair: And Urban Outfitters is “Friends and Family”? Really?
“So even though the t word doesn’t have the violent history of the f word or the n word, they made it into a major insult.”
Being trans has its own violent history, and I’m afraid that “tranny” is absolutely slung with violent intentions quite often. Not to mention your standard garden variety dismissive BS that we get from gay men who use it “as a joke”.
Given how often gay men, right here, crap their pants because some celebrity said something slightly unflattering (and didn’t immediately give the world’s greatest public apology)it seems odd that people here are giggling about a business using this as a marketing ploy to sell shitty clothes to 20-something d-bags.
Also, what is the gay male’s burning need to use “tranny” as some sort of neutral term for trans women? Even if it is just like gays using “fag” – you still don’t see Lady GaGa tossing the word around on morning television now do you? You don’t see Lesbians flooding the blogs with demands that they be able to freely call everyone and anyone a “fag” and that gay men need to get over it.
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@parasite eve: For a transsexual who is easily offended you sure have no problem offending others.
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As a Trans person, I find it very offensive that you are promoting anti-trans jokes on this website. Queerty, you should not have published this “joke”. Shame on you for promoting transphobia and giving transphobics a voice. Queerty, you disgust me.
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From a marketing standpoint, this makes no sense to me.
Using the word cock and tranny, sounds like something you find in the
gayboorhood card store.
Who are they trying to appeal to?
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If the transgender jokes are ok…Does this mean it ok to start telling ethnic and racial jokes again?
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@TransAustralian: Promotion? There are tons of trans people who linked to the offending card themselves. Reporting =/= promotion.
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I am not sure what was sooo transphobic about the joke… can you please enlighten me?
I have asked, for a Trans person to let us know what would be funny, and not phobic.
Do Trans people have a sense of humor?
I ask this as a way of learning… not to be disrespectful.
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@Chimera:
We have never stopped making fun of each other in the world. Men on TV shows are seen as stupid… people laugh… Gay guys Wave their arms in the air… people laugh… This past weekend People filled bars and the streets dressed in stupid green, got drunk etc… because it was St Pat’s Day, most of the people celebrating were not Irish
If we can’t laugh at ourselves, and others this will be a very sad world.
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@JAW: Seeing as you asked: “Tranny” is a derogatory term. No amount of misuse by people who are not trans, such as Ru Paul, is going to change that. There isn’t really a ‘reclamation’ effort either going on.
It’s just hard to find something funny when reading yet another story about a “man who was dressed in womens clothing” was beaten murdered on the east coast (as has been a rash lately).
I think the issue largely stems from the fact that there are hardly any role models portrayed anywhere. As the example, for your Jack you have your Will who doesn’t embody such a stereotypical gay guy.
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(Note, by “the issue” I meant the fact that I can’t think of something offhand about being trans I find funny, and I sound like a humorless harridan, for which I can only apologize. :P)
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If this offends trans activists, I support it. I’ll start shopping at Urban Outfitters. Trans activists have done more damage to the gay movement than anyone other than the church. They have coopted our movement and relabeled it LGBT so they can use it or their own ends. They have caused us to lose ENDA and they nearly caused us to lose the repeal of DADT. Many are overtly homophobic and violent. Fuck them.
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I am sorry, I overreacted. I wasn’t feeling well yesterday.
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@parasite eve:
there are plenty of “gays” who are against gay marriage & equalities because even they think its “weird” & harmful to the social public (don’t ask me why, ask someone who falls under that category) & how is it that urban outfitters as a whole “hates the gays” when almost every homosexual male I’ve met shops there? Kinda confusing if you ask me.
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@JAW:
Personally I find it offensive because it literally is directed to a specific group of people. Like a joke about mexicans hopping a border (if there is one to hop. Its an electric fence…yeah…not happening). It is also more offensive because urban outfitters hate lgbtqa…& so on (even though their clothing attracts more lgbt’s than heterosexual people. I mean LOOK at it)& because they’re so open ABOUT hating them.
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@Maria:
Actually as a male… I could say that it is more offensive to us… since Jack was not able to tell that Jill was transitioning… she must have looked Hot. Also The fact that Jill was not open in letting Jack know that she was hiding something is a bit deceptive and perhaps that is what the Trans community is upset about.
Also… You mentioned that cross dressers are not part of the Trans community… they were the first to use the word Trans… as in Transvestites… Many of them are pissed as hell that they are being thrown to the gutter by the transsexual/transgendered radicals.
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If you can be brought down by a word,then you are probably the word……deal!!
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Everything is offensive to someone and there are more important matters in the world.