In Johannesburg, three decades ago, the homophobes were out in force: bible-thumpers trying to save our souls; right-wingers with their AWB swastikas. Last week, too, there were missionaries galore, with bibles and salvation brochures; giant pickup trucks, with gun racks and Trump 2020 signs, revving their engines at us, and in some cases shouting ‘queer!’ and ‘faggot!
she was following CDC guidelines at the time, and that almost all of the state’s nursing home deaths have originated from employees). Then, too, there have been the normal curmudgeons accusing her of curtailing life, liberty, happiness, and the all-American right to pass on a deadly illness.held a fundraiser at the grounds of the Bloomsburg Fair, a giant agricultural fair held down the road every September.
However, the most popular game that day turned out to be a dunk tank. There, a man dressed in a garish parody of Levine – long, blonde wig, bookish spectacles, and a flowery dress – sat under a target. For a fee, locals could throw a ball, and if they hit the bull’s eye – bam, the mock cross-dressed Health Secretary would end up in a tank.
What was the Bloomsburg Fair thinking? Later that day, it tweeted: “Dr Levine? Thank you. You were a hit… I wonder why so many wanted to dunk you?” Later, the fair took down the post andBut for many, it was too late. Critics noted, first, that cross-dressing is almost never a part of these public dunking games. More usual is for a popular mayor, police chief, or other public figure to offer herself up, in good sport: I’ve had my own fair share of dips in the tank at the university where I teach.
Second, the question posed by the fair’s original tweet at least left the possibility of transphobia wide open. Put differently, in current American political life, it is sometimes hard to pull apart the strings of prejudice and ideology. Did the good citizens of rural Pennsylvania resent Levine for closing down their beloved bars and hairdressers, or for being trans?Did Pennsylvania coal country hate Obama, and peddle absurd conspiracy theories about him being born outside the US, because he restricted use of their black gold? Or was it because he was black himself?
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