Chris Matthew's Slip Of The Tongue

I like Chris Matthews. I genuinely do. I don't always agree with him, but he seems to be a sincere, honest journalist. A journalist that i can respect. However, he made a very bad slip of the tongue on his 6/1 Hardball show that I just can't ignore. "It's a she... It's a she."

As so many other shows, Mr Matthew's did a segment on Caitlyn Jenner, formally Bruce. As you must know by now, the Olympian has been undergoing a physical gender transformation. Surprisingly, Ms. Jenner has been getting support from almost everyone in the media. Even at FOX News. And although Chris Matthews had many supportive things to say, he let loose a very verboten slut. "It."

In my youth, "It" was  was the transgendered equivalent of the "N" word. A word that was used by bigots to refer to anyone that was a cross dresser, female impersonator, effeminate male (straight or gay), inter sexed person, or transsexual. If you fell into any of these categories, especially if you fell into one of these categories in the eyes of a trans-phobic person, you weren't a full human being. You were an "It."

I have heard many people referred this way, both in public and on TV. Early talk shows such as Phil Donahue would occasionally have someone transgendered on, and some caller or audience member would have to use the word "it" to refer to the person. Even as people started to grow more accepting of cross dressers, inter sexed, and transgendered, the word never fully went away. IT faded quite a bit, but it always managed to linger.

Of all the people at MSNBC to refer to anyone in the gender spectrum as "It," I never would have guessed that Mr. Matthews would be the one. I could imagine that a guest panelist on a show would use it, and then be corrected by the host. But Chris Matthews? I had to replay the segment a few times, hoping that I had misunderstood him. But unfortunately, I didn't.

Of all the segments that I've seen on local or cable media, of all the radio clips that I've heard, Chris Matthews was the only person that I head use "It" to describe Caitlyn Jenner. I watched his show again yesterday, hoping that someone had pointed out his slip of the tongue to him. I fully hoped that he would have apologized to Ms. Jenner, as well as his LGBT audience members. Either he is still unaware of his slip, or he thinks it's too minor for a quick, ten second apology.

Chris Matthews, I am very disappointed in you. Not just as a member of the Gender community, but as Ca person that has trusted MSNBC, as well as your show, to provide people with respect as you covered a story. You have shown respect to people of all other groups these past few years, no matter how much you disagreed with them publicly or privately. So please, show the same respect to the Gender Community. Just take a few seconds to say "I'm sorry for revering to Caitlyn Jenner as 'It,' instead of he or she."