I was shocked and dismayed by the editorial cartoon published in the June 26 online edition of the Everett Herald regarding the recent Louisiana legislation mandating the placement of the ten commandments in all public schools. The cartoon includes a gross caricature of a transgender person that is reminiscent of the caricatures of Jewish people common during the Nazi regime. The clear implication is that transgender people are “disgusting.”
What is truly disgusting is that we are still dealing with rejection of entire groups of people because of prejudice and differences in beliefs/opinions. The specific groups may have changed over the years, but the hatred and vilification has not.
Characterizations of this type are far from harmless. They fuel the rise in violence against targeted groups. Transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crime, according to a study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.
I expect the Everett Herald to immediately withdraw this political cartoon and issue a prominent apology.
William McClain
Lynnwood
Opinion Page Editor Jon Bauer responds: “I understood that the cartoon was likely to be found offensive by many, but included it in the online gallery of editorial cartoons to make clear the kind of messaging that is still used against transgendered people and the larger LGBTQ+ community. Inclusion of cartoons in the online gallery is intended to show — in a more limited forum than on The Herald’s printed pages — the full range of opinion that exists, and that not all of it is well-informed, fair or even humorous.”
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