In honor of LGBT Pride Month,
American Apparel debuted its first-ever transgender model, former "America's Next Top Model" contestant Isis King. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation praised the clothing company for its decision to include King, and hopes that it will help promote the phrase "Gay is OK." We wanted to know if the public thinks the campaign is a great idea, or just a gimmick.
Naturally, this is a controversial issue. We'll leave politics alone in the demographics this time, because it's clearly a determining factor, but in the end most people feel American Apparel's decision to use a transgender model was a good thing. Some respondents were uncomfortable with it, but others saw it as a step forward. One commenter wrote, "People need to not care what someone else's preference is, and worry about something worth while."
The Straight Stats
Homosexual voters were all for the use of a transgender model, as would be expected, but how did straight voters respond? Filtering out the LGBT vote, we found that straight voters were less than thrilled about the ads. It was still close, but 53% of the straight vote suggested American Apparel's use of King was just a gimmick.
Females Are Fine With It
Gender was almost as divisive as sexuality. While men were largely unimpressed with the ad, female voters strongly supported it, with more than two-thirds of the vote in favor. In the past, our polls have shown that women are typically much more comfortable with homosexuality, while men sometimes tend to be grossed out by it.
Older Voters Are Against It
Usually, when there's a stark difference between younger and older voters, the shift occurs somewhere around 45. However, in this case, the age difference was a little bit young. The vast majority of people over 35 voted against the ad, while a large number of voters under 35 were impressed. The difference was enormous -- approximately 43%.
If you'd like to vote on this question, dig deeper into the demographics, or engage in existing discussion about the topic, visit our poll about Isis King. We'd love to hear from you!
its not about attention, its about respect
if i choose to be woman, i am woman!! i like it
why are you still here?
or this
I absolutely disagree with it all, but nevertheless they are still their own person and no one should have a say over what crazy things a person does to their own body.
Furthermore, there are varying degrees of transgendered cases. Some may abhor their bodies whereas some may merely feel incongruent.
What if I told you I should be a 4'11" rather that 5'11" and I was willing to cut my legs off at the knee to be that way? You would call me crazy, a freak, and someone who needs to spend a lot of time with a professional.
Your arguments for transgender amount to the same thing!
It is all psychological! They are fully functional in their born gender, and to surgically change it is to maim themselves!
Pay special attention to what this guy says at 2:55, "I'm a big man in a little man's body" he goes on to admit it is all psychological for him to want to be that way. There is no reason for it, he can't help himself, he just wants it, and this self-destructive behavior nearly got him killed.
Now as an old broad let me inform all you youngens, human sexuality in all of its forms has been there and done that for eons. For the same eons in all societies discrimination in one form or another has always raised its ugly head. I've worked my whole life as a straight woman in traditionally male jobs, I battled discrimination by being there and doing the job not by dressing or acting like a man.
Who I am as a person and what I can bring positive to society as that person i...
Now as an old broad let me inform all you youngens, human sexuality in all of its forms has been there and done that for eons. For the same eons in all societies discrimination in one form or another has always raised its ugly head. I've worked my whole life as a straight woman in traditionally male jobs, I battled discrimination by being there and doing the job not by dressing or acting like a man.
Who I am as a person and what I can bring positive to society as that person is and always was far more important and changed more minds than anything else I could have done. Women now work as land draftsmen and surveyors in the field, they sure as hell didn't in my time, at least not without having a lot of guts to be yourself, believe in yourself and just do it. If 'they' whomever 'they' are want to keep you, the person down then either accept the constant change 'they' will demand or just tell the 'they's' to shove it and have the courage to be yourself no matter what.
Change, positive change doesn't come from what's on the outside, it comes from what's on the inside.
My only issue with this is they were trying to tie homosexuality to transgendered people, not all gay people want to be the opposite sex, that's absurd... most gay people are perfectly happy as nature made them.... transgender is a totally separate issue from sexuality. I don't think someone's sexual preference makes them suddenly want to have their genitals surgically altered. I'm against sex changes, I think people should accept their natural sex... but despite my stance, of course we should accept them as human beings. Similarly, I may not agree with smokers smoking tobacco, but they are still people and deserve respect.
If he Is a "Transgender" he is admitting that "she" is actually a he.