Popping culture: TLC’s Cake Boss needs some sensitivity training

On a recent episode of Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro teams up with RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Carmen Carrera to play a joke on “Cousin Anthony.”

According to Gawker, Carrera agreed to flirt with Anthony, to whom it was revealed that Carrera is transgender. It’s kind of an unfunny joke, and it’s interesting that Carrera chooses to be the butt of a joke, but she agreed to a contract with the producers. What she did not agree to is to be referred to as a man.

Apparently, Carrera had spoken with the producers about gender pronoun usage in her case, but at the reveal in the show, Buddy refers to Carmen as “a man.”

Unfortunately, “Cousin Anthony” referred to Carmen as an “it” on Twitter, but the tweet was soon taken down, along with an apology to Carrera.

Buddy, Cousin Anthony and the producers of Cake Boss need to grow the fuck up.

Journalist, writer, blogger, producer.

Keep Reading

Madonna

Gay aging is complicated. Madonna is showing us the way

“Confessions II” is the Queen of Pop’s latest middle finger to people who think her age makes her irrelevant. Queer people should take notes
The cover of Perverts

‘Perverts’ shows the cost of sexual self-censorship

Mac Crane’s short-story collection follows queer and trans characters who are both stuck—and free
Sun

Rosalía’s ‘Lux’ tour taught me things I didn’t even know I could know

After years of pining, I finally went to the Catalan superstar’s concert. I wasn’t ready for what it did to me
The protagonists of Blood Lines embracing

The big twist in ‘Blood Lines’ is more than shocking

Gail Maurice’s queer Métis romance takes a massive risk—letting it dig deep into the pain and loss perpetuated by colonial structures
Advertisement