Leslie Jordan - Metro Weekly - August 13 & 20, 2020

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Transphobic Tweeting
Trump advisor Jenna Ellis misgenders and attacks Pennsylvania Health Secretary
Rachel Levine. By John Riley
TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN ADVISOR JENNA ELLIS
continued her habit of anti-LGBTQ comments, aiming
her fire at Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine,
who is transgender, and misgendering her in a tweet.
Commenting on a May 2020 article about an incident
where Levine criticized a reporter for a right-wing talk radio
station after he repeatedly called her “sir” during an on-air
interview, Ellis tweeted: “This guy is making decisions about
your health.”
Ellis is a senior legal advisor to the Trump campaign, and has
a long history of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, including endorsing anti-
LGBTQ conversion therapy and saying higher HIV rates among
gay and bisexual men was “God’s moral law.”
Pennsylvania State Rep. Brian Sims (D-Philadelphia)
responded to Ellis’ tweet, saying that Levine is “a world-class
public health expert who has been saving countless thousands of
lives. I realize you may not know what that looks like.”
Sims continued: “She’s also a hero to LGBTQ+ people like me
and doesn’t deserve your scorn or mockery.”
Levine, due to her public persona as the person in charge of
Pennsylvania’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has drawn
the attention of anti-LGBTQ social conservatives.
A person in a dress claiming to be Dr. Levine was featured as
part of the “dunk tank” at a local festival, a Pennsylvania restaurant
named one of its dishes after her in a jab that made a gross
reference to her genitalia, and she’s been frequently misgendered
on social media with transphobic memes.
The harassment led Levine to denounce the attacks, telling
her detractors that they weren’t harming her so much as “perpetuat[ing]
a spirit of intolerance and discrimination” against
LGTBQ Pennsylvanians, particularly transgender youth struggling
with their identity.
In response, a state lawmaker who has previously called for
her resignation over the slow reopening of the Pennsylvania
economy then rewrote her comments to create a parody in
which people who refuse to wear masks during the COVID-19
pandemic are victims of discrimination.
The Human Rights Campaign condemned Ellis’s remarks in
a statement.
“Jenna Ellis is a bigot and Dr. Levine is a patriot — plain and
simple. Dr. Levine illustrates character and patriotism while
Ellis cannot even define those terms. Using a person’s pronouns
is a basic level of respect,” HRC President Alphonso David said.
“Despite claims of allyship, Donald Trump, Mike Pence and
their staff have gone out of their way to dehumanize and attack
transgender and non-binary people simply for existing,” David
added. “Trump and his allies have refused to acknowledge the
epidemic of violence transgender and gender non-conforming
18 AUGUST 13 & 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM