Anchorwoman Olayemi Olurin left two transphobic contributors talking in circles yesterday on The Hill TV.
Fellow commentators Robby “Haircut with Eyes” Soave and Kim “Interruption” Iversen spent the entire segment emphatically wondering why they weren’t “allowed” to deadname Elliot Page in the public eye.
Meanwhile, Olurin stuck to her guns and remained the sole voice on the panel to understand the concepts of basic respect and personhood.
Do not call Elliot Page or any other trans person by their dead names. It doesn’t cost us anything to simply respect peoples personhoods and call them the name they tell us to. pic.twitter.com/YwIhP3lfMJ
— Olayemi Olurin (@msolurin) July 6, 2022
It should be noted that this good faith mentioning of Page’s former life that got someone kicked from Twitter doesn’t exist.
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They’re speaking about Jordan Peterson and Dave Rubin’s Twitter suspensions over deadnaming the actor, and their statements were anything but in good faith.
Peterson’s original statement read, “Remember when pride was a sin? And Ellen Page just had her breasts removed by a criminal physician.”
To argue for statements like this to remain on the app in spite of Twitter’s long-standing anti-harassment rules is to blatantly call for the admission of violent rhetoric against trans people.
Related: Elon Musk just reminded everyone why his trans daughter wants nothing to do with him
Olurin was the only one to emphasize, nearly ad nauseam, that it’s dehumanizing to refer to someone as something they have publicly stated makes them uncomfortable to be referred to as.
After the show, Iversen went on social media to compare the situation to Muhammad Ali’s name change, saying that people are “ALLOWED” to call him by his birth name.
The point is whether or not you’re ALLOWED to say certain things. You can call Muhammad Ali Cassius Clay and not be banned from Twitter or lose your job. Why should trans receive special treatment because they choose to change their names vs others who choose to change theirs?
— Kim Iversen (@KimIversenShow) July 7, 2022
Another user quickly and eloquently responded by pointing out how Ali handled people who called him by his birth name:
Muhammad Ali literally beat the shit out Ernie Terrel for refusing to call him Muhammad Ali
He famously shouted, “what’s my name? what’s my name!?” while taunting him during the fight
He didn’t shake his hand or anything after the fight because he was so offended
You are a 🤡
— Revolutionary Blackout Network🥋 (@SocialistMMA) July 7, 2022
Even though Olurin handled the two transphobic commentators with calm and purpose, it’s embarrassing that she had to explain this concept to two grown adults who continue (still) to act like they don’t understand how calling a person out of their name is disrespectful.
Related: Elliot Page shares dreamy new passport picture that he “never thought” he would love
The pair’s emphasis on not being “allowed” to say Page’s deadname brings to mind a scene from The Good Fight about another word a panel of anchors felt they weren’t allowed to say:
This clip of Delroy Lindo on The Good Fight about the N word will never not be relevant. pic.twitter.com/valLmvbcim
— Ahmed Ali (@MrAhmednurAli) February 5, 2022
Transphobes like Iversen and Soave are allowed to say whatever they want. They just better be ready to face the repercussions.
