Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 21:41:51 -0600 From: ACTION ALERT Moderator Subject: ACTION ALERT: FOX Television [ submitted by GLAAD ] World's Scariest Police Chase Down Transpeople On February 17, FOX targeted transpeople in World's Scariest Police Chases, another "reality-based" police program. "They could be high, they could be insane, they could be both," the voice-over says. "These suspects are so dangerous, so reckless, and so weird that they make these chases unforgettable." During the "so weird" section, the program shows police forcing at gunpoint a transgendered person from a truck. Then two separate clips are shown where either cross-dressing men, drag queens or transgender women (the show does not make this distinction) are engaged in high-speed chases. In the first, the voice-over identifies the suspect as a "local football coach, well-known and well-liked." When the person is caught, the voice-over asks, "But why did he run, and why didn't the officer recognize him?" He snidely states that, "He was wearing a wig and women's clothing." Between segments, a police officer explains that safety is the number-one concern, and that they want people to be stopped, not humiliated. But the next arrestee tells a different story. While being chased, the driver calls 911 and explains, "Brand-new dress on, that's what I got. Now they'll see me all dressed up, and want to parade me around in front of everybody in jail...." The arrestee says he will stop when "I get my make-up off," adding, "I hope this won't make the news." When the driver is arrested, the camera fixes on his legs in hose, noting that "an officer can't help but smile." By prefacing the segment by calling the transpeople "weird," and lumping that in with being "high," "crazy" or both, FOX sets viewers up to consider transpeople "freakish." The voice-over confirms this bias against transgendered people in its attitude toward the wig and dress of the first driver. The second driver has a valid concern of humiliation after arrest by police officers, who unfortunately have a long history of insensitivity and even outright violence towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. But this is dismissed by the officer stating that police do not want to "humiliate" suspects. Instead of giving any context to the driver's fear, the structure of the show makes the person appear irrational and "weird." Let FOX know that this kind of side-show treatment of transgender people is unacceptable. Contact: Peter Roth, President of Fox Entertainment Group, Fox Television Network, 10201 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064-2606, fax: 310.369.7363, or call the viewer hotline at: 310.369.3066 -- _____________________________________________________________________________ * ACTION-ALERT is a moderated mailing list. * * To subscribe to ACTION-ALERT, send mail to: majordomo@vector.casti.com * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: subscribe action-alert * * To unsubscribe to ACTION-ALERT, send mail to: majordomo@vector.casti.com * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: unsubscribe action-alert * * Words in the Subject: line are NOT processed! * * List Information: http://www.qrd.org/qrd/electronic/email/action-alert * _____________________________________________________________________________