Neil Patrick Harris Apologizes For Saying ‘Tranny’ On Live With Kelly

Despite being an openly gay actor and LGBT rights advocate, Neil Patrick Harris is not immune to the LGBT community’s wrath: GLAAD and other organizations called him out for using the word “tranny” twice during his guest-hosting gig on Live with Kelly on Friday. Neil has since apologized, but it’s a fascinating example of how the queer community is sometimes at odds with its members.

For the most part, Neil’s co-hosting with Kelly Ripa has been a dream for the morning show’s viewers. (Regis Philbin stepped down the other week after 28 years of hosting Live.) But as is often the case, at the very end of his time he made a misstep. While trying out sulfur hexachloride, which creates deep voices instead of the high-pitched versions you hear with helium, Neil imitated Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs and then quipped, “I’ve never sounded more like a tranny in my life.”

The most impassioned response came from a blogger who claims not to be part of the LGBT blogosphere/community/movement, yet included herself in the trans community who were insulted by NPH’s slip-up. Sarah from Transfemmergence compared NPH to other “trans misogynist gay guys” like columnist Dan Savage and CNN anchor Don Lemon. Her main problem was that by Neil referencing Buffalo Bill, he perpetuates the stereotype of transwomen as predators.

For what it’s worth, I’ve never heard of this stereotype in any other form of media, so I’d have to call Sarah’s post an overreaction.

Dan Savage has written a response in which he suggests that everyone calm down and reevaluate which uses of “tranny” are actually offensive—that if someone speaks the word to unpack it and explain why it’s hurtful, that person is not a bigot. However, he does acknowledge that Neil’s use of the word was “thoughtless.” He closed his post with When you’re ready to apologize, Neil, the cissies at GLAAD are ready to help you play Grovel Madlibs.

It turns out that Neil did apologize, within hours of Friday’s telecast:

Obviously he realized his mistake immediately and hastened to make things right. I have to believe that he had no intent to insult transwomen, but it was an unfortunate combination of his status as a public figure, out celebrity, and morning-show viewership that turned a slip-up into a crisis.