The Chicago Sun-Times removed an op-ed from its website and issued an apology after gay rights groups called the piece “anti-transgender” and inaccurate.
The article, headlined “Laverne Cox is Not a Woman” by Kevin D. Williamson, originally appeared in National Review magazine. The Sun-Times picked up the story and published it Saturday.
In it Williamson claimed transgendered people, like actress Laverne Cox (“Orange is the New Black”), who became one of the first transgendered woman to appear on the cover of Time magazine, are delusional.
“The trans self-conception, if the autobiographical literature is any guide, is partly a feeling that one should be living one’s life as a member of the opposite sex and partly a delusion that one is in fact a member of the opposite sex at some level of reality that transcends the biological facts in question,” Williamson wrote.
He went on to say modern society’s acceptance of transgenderism as real is “not only irrational but antirational.”
After the Chicago Sun-Times ran the piece Friday, LGBT rights advocates petitioned the paper to retract it. Representatives from gay rights watchdog GLAAD contacted Sun-Times editors soon after.
The newspaper eventually pulled the story Tuesday and sent GLAAD an apology.
“We try to present a range of views on an issue, not only those views we may agree with, but also those we don’t agree with. A recent op-ed piece we ran online that was produced by another publication initially struck as provocative. Upon further consideration, we concluded the essay did not include some key facts and its overall tone was not consistent with what we seek to publish. The column failed to acknowledge that the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association have deemed transgender-related care medically necessary for transgender people. It failed as well to acknowledge the real and undeniable pain and discrimination felt by transgender people, who suffer from notably higher rates of depression and suicide. We have taken the post down and we apologize for the oversight.”
Advocates are calling for Williamson to retract his statements, which are still published on National Review. But Williamson stands by the piece, and has retweeted critics.
A reminder that my glorious prose is still available at its original home, which isn't in Chicago. http://t.co/DuLN6rhbrw
— Kevin D. Williamson (@KevinNR) June 3, 2014
