An open letter to Inside Joke
As I write this, I am aware that it will most likely be met with groans of “can’t you take a joke?” and “you’re missing the point of the sketch”, and although I know many people will shrug this letter off as oversensitive, that does not mean that the blatantly transphobic joke that was made at the show on March 19th should go unaddressed. For anyone unable to attend, the particular joke I am referring to was part of a video sketch where a cisgender man says “canceled? Why am I being canceled? People should be celebrating me. I just won the women’s NCAA national swimming tournament” (time stamp 2:15). For additional context, on March 17th, Lia Thomas, a swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania, became the first ever transgender athlete to win a Division 1 national championship. Since coming out earlier this year, Thomas has experienced hate and backlash from the general public, other athletes, and her own teammates. Crowds showed up to protest outside of her races and her victories have been met with silence or booing. The controversy surrounding Lia Thomas competing in the tournament, and the butt of the joke, is the debate on whether transgender athletes, specifically trans women, should be allowed to compete in the same category as cisgender women due to a supposed “biological advantage”. However, because of the joke’s specificity, it is not just a joke at the expense of trans athletes, but also a direct attack on Lia Thomas. Because they specifically chose to use NCAA swimming as their example, just days after Lia Thomas won her title, it is not just a joke about the ongoing debate about trans women in sports, but a direct attack on her gender identity.