Even Laverne Cox and Trace Lysette Have to Deal With Transphobic Bullshit on Dating Apps
CelebritiesDirt Bag
Famous trans women are still subjected to transphobic bullshit when trying to swipe right on some hotties? In the immortal words of one of graphic artist Cat Frazier’s most iconic Tumblr-era animated text gifs, disappointed but not surprised!
On Friday, Trace Lysette tweeted that she’d been banned from Hinge after multiple users reported for simply being there. “So exhausted with these dating apps allowing people to report trans women for no reason,” wrote the Hustlers star. “As if dating isn’t exhausting enough.”
Laverne Cox chimed in: “Yeah, I was blocked by Hinge as well.”
In case you’re not familiar with what the two actors are talking about, congrats on being cis I guess?? As has been widely reported in the past, transphobic dating app users regularly report trans women for showing up on apps like Tinder and Hinge, which leads to said apps banning us after people report us enough times. I don’t like to dwell on stupid too much, but said transphobic app users are usually operating under some kind of fucked-up logic that has them thinking we’re deceptive male intruders trying to trap queer women or straight men into sleeping with us. I personally would argue that the real traps are the married or otherwise coupled-up straight men who flirt with us online and off without disclosing the existence of their wives and/or girlfriends, but that’s a conversation for another day!!!!
Hinge apologized to Cox, offering some patronizing bullshit excuse that its users simply thought there was no way a celebrity was using the same app as them. “We’re so sorry our people thought having you on Hinge was too good to be true,” the Hinge rep said (cough, bullshit, cough). “Your account has been reinstated, and we’ve given you a lifetime preferred membership, which we hope you won’t need for long.”
“Thanks so much!” the Disclosure star wrote back. “Hopefully all the trans folks on your platform who routinely get flagged simply for being trans will get similar treatment.” Doubt it, but here’s hoping!
Speaking of this whole transphobic dating app kerfuffle (kerfuffle!), someone in Cox’s mentions @’d Janet Mock, asking if she’d create a dating app specifically “for the girls.”
“Great idea!” the Pose producer tweeted. “But I have zero online dating experience. And as a Pisces with Ms. Venus in my descendant, I tend to find my new man before my old [man] packs up.”
Sorry to interrupt, but !!!!
“Just messssssssy,” she added.
Though Mock doesn’t name names, one (me) could say (I am saying) that this possibly (definitely) clears up some lingering questions one (me, it was me) had about when she got together with Pose babe Angel Bismark Curiel following her divorce last year.
Anyway, as a woman of mess experience, I deeply appreciate this moment of radical vulnerability. Wish these two the best!
According to Maureen Dowd’s New York Times interview with Elon Musk, the billionaire supervillain:
- was not having an affair with Amber Heard while she was married to Johnny Depp, as the Pirates of the Caribbean actor has claimed.
- is totally down to cage fight Depp though.
- refers to X Æ A-12, his newborn with Grimes, as simply “X.”
- thinks “babies are supercool.”
- believes that “possessions weigh you down,” even though he…
- owns multiple houses that nobody uses, including himself.
- thinks underground car tunnels are a priority despite probably having enough personal wealth to assist the horrifyingly high number of people facing unemployment, evictions, and mounting hospital bills right now.
- wants to be the “emperor” of Mars.
- thinks Mars will be gentrified in the next 20 years(????).
- thinks gentrification is “the most powerful force in the universe. Even Mordor could not resist gentrification.”
- has a secret Instagram.
- does not microdose.
- loves anime.
- thinks Kanye West shouldn’t run for president this year.
- thinks Kanye West should run for president in 2024.
- doesn’t know how he feels about presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
- is totally fine with Donald Trump’s endorsement: “I’ll take the compliment.”
- thinks we’re being too political about everything.
And according to Musk on Twitter late last night:
We’re eating him first, right?
- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry filed a lawsuit against an unnamed paparazzo for allegedly snapping pics of their infant son, Archie. [Reuters]
- Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles may or may not be dating NFL player Jonathan Owens. [Bossip]
- Hospital records confirm that Megan Thee Stallion was treated for a “gunshot injury” the night that Torey Lanez allegedly shot her in the foot and that she underwent a surgical procedure to remove bullets (or possibly bullet fragments) from her feet. [TMZ]
- #FreeBritney protesters crashed Britney Spears’ Zoom conservatorship hearing. [Vanity Fair]
- Elton John’s ex-wife is suing him for being a big ole gossip. [Page Six]
- Look at Ciara and Russell Wilson’s cute newborn baby, Win!!!!!