Transgender people have so few role models in the media. So when BET hired openly transgender and gay TV, radio, and web personality B. Scott as its red carpet correspondent for the network's BET Awards, it was a revelation. Here was an individual who had made a name for himself in his own right without regard to his gender expression. His website (http://www.lovebscott.com), an entertainment blog focusing on celebrity news, fashion, and music, launched in 2007 and has won the best video blog award from the Black Weblog Awards twice. In 2008 YouTube selected Scott to become one of the company's partners, and in 2009 he launched an online talk and variety show called "The B. Scott Show" where he has interviewed the likes of Mariah Carey, Ne-Yo, Chaka Khan, and Ashanti. He has been a featured panelist at LGBT conferences and hosted events at the Hollywood Black Film Festival and Yale University's gay Pride month.
In short Scott is no joke. He is a media icon who has built his image and his career from the ground up, and he is an inspiration for transgender people of all backgrounds and LGBT people as a whole. He has shown us that hope for our future and simple acceptance from the public are possible.
And then BET stepped in and crushed those dreams. After approving Scott's on-air wardrobe for the pre-show �" black heels, a pair of loose black pants, a sleeveless top, and a flowing, dark-blue tunic �" the BET honchos decided it was inappropriate. By the time this decision came down, Scott had already appeared on live TV in this outfit and, I might add, looked damn good: the clothes were classy and stylish, perfectly fitting for an individual whose job it was to analyze and discuss the fashion of the evening.
The appropriateness of the clothes, however, was not the problem for BET. It was that they were women's clothes. Despite the fact that Scott dresses as a woman, and for all intents and purposes is a transgender gay person publicly and on a daily basis, those in charge of the network found his garb offensive somehow. To them this was a man in women's dress, and that just could not fly. After Scott was allowed on air in the outfit for one segment, he was pulled aside and told that if he wanted to continue, he would have to put on something �" well, more manly. Not wanting to lose this job that would obviously be important to his career, he complied and appeared for the rest of the show in black trousers and a shiny-blue suit coat. His long, straight hair was pulled back in a modest ponytail, and the sparkling smile that was a permanent fixture on his face prior to this fiasco wiped away for good.
Scott was not happy. He was embarrassed, angry, and uncomfortable. Anyone with eyes could have seen that. Yet the BET executives did not care. Scott looked how they wanted him to look now �" in other words, like a man �" and that was all that mattered.
Eventually, BET pulled Scott off the air altogether, replacing him with a female host �" who, because she was "born that way," was fine in her dress and high heels. Which just went to show how deep this horrible, disgusting discrimination went. Women's clothing was all right for a cis woman but not for a transgender gay individual? BET had made their rules clear, though unfortunately a little too late. Scott had already been singled out and humiliated, and who knows what damage this incident might have done to his reputation.
To bring this egregious misconduct to light, Scott has now filed a lawsuit against BET charging the network with discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Though Scott is seeking $2.5 million in damages, I'm not sure any monetary amount could make up for what has been done. This is not just a matter of clothing choices and what an employer can or cannot ultimately make an employee do to retain their job, although those are certainly high among the practical concerns of any transgender individual. No, this is a question of deep-seated, insidious, and ingrained prejudices that unfortunately still rear their ugly heads �" an underlying misunderstanding and even hatred that is always present even when it is not spoken. I cannot say I know the true motives of the BET representatives who told Scott to change his clothes, but I can guess the implied message of their actions: "You're too weird. You need to conform no matter how uncomfortable it makes you." If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that, either outright or implicitly, I would be as rich as some of the celebrities Scott interviewed on BET's red carpet.
So what does this all mean for transgender individuals? Whether we are public figures or not, what happened to Scott at the BET Awards is clearly another step back when we thought we were making some progress. I and many other transgender people were surprised but so happy that BET had made such a bold move when it brought Scott onboard. This was widespread international exposure for our cause and, more importantly, a chance to show the world that a transgender individual is just as capable and talented as anyone of any other gender expression. And then it ended in disaster. To say I am disappointed is an understatement; devastated is more like it, and all I can do is hope and pray that Scott's courage will bring everyone more clarity in the future.
Rizi Timane, Ph.D., identifies as a trans man and is a commissioned minister and spiritual counselor within Rizi Timane Ministries, a Jesus-based ministry based in Burbank, California. For more information, visit http://rizitimaneministries.vpweb.com/.