SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Democratic presidential candidate former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg delivers remarks during a campaign rally on February 12, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
'Cruel, Inexcusable': Bloomberg 2019 Comments on Trans Rights Come Under Fire
"Update your understanding. No one gets left out of human rights."
Feb 18, 2020
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is facing criticism from human rights groups over a number of comments made in the last four years in which the billionaire businessman vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination referred to transgender people as "it" and expressed doubt that expressing support for LGBTQ civil rights was a good electoral strategy for the 2020 election.
"If your conversation during a presidential election is about some guy wearing a dress and whether he, she, or it can go to the locker room with their daughter, that's not a winning formula for most people," Bloomberg said at a Bermuda Business Development Agency forum on March 21, 2019.
The 2019 comments were unearthed and reported on by Buzzfeed News journalist Dominic Holden on Tuesday.
Holden's colleague at Buzzfeed, Hayes Brown, noted that Bloomberg was erasing trans people across the country.
"Underrated part of this clip: Bloomberg using the classic 'this is just what you'd hear if you ask someone in the middle of the country' framing, as if trans people and their loved ones don't live anywhere but on the coasts," said Brown.
NBC News reporter Ben Kesslen pointed out that Bloomberg was not only insulting trans people but also the broader electorate.
"At the core of Bloomberg's comments--just like the ones that resurfaced last week--is a deep condescension," said Kesslen. "He seems to believe trans rights don't matter to 'regular' people."
Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David said in a statement that Bloomberg "should apologize for using language that demoralizes and dehumanizes members of our community."
"We expect all pro-equality candidates, including Mayor Bloomberg, to create policy solutions to end the epidemic of violence our community faces, not use the same talking points our opponents use to dehumanize transgender people and justify their own hateful beliefs," David said. "LGBTQ people are human and deserve to be treated with respect."
David's colleague, Human Rights Campaign rapid response press secretary Charlotte Clymer, echoed the call for Bloomberg to apologize, saying she was "heartbroken and infuriated."
"His remarks are cruel, inexcusable, and enable violence and discrimination against trans and non-binary folks," Clymer said.
The 2019 comments were just the most recent instance of Bloomberg's use of transphobic and homophobic language resurfacing as the billionaire ramps up advertising spending in advance of the Super Tuesday contest on March 3. In 2016, Bloomberg said that voters in the Midwest would react poorly to "the concept that some man wearing a dress should be in a locker room with their daughter." And a book of old quotes from Bloomberg from 1990, published in full for the first time by the Washington Post on February 15, cites the billionaire using a homophobic slur.
Bloomberg's comments "display a stunning ignorance of how many gender non-conforming folks live all over our country and across the world," tweeted scientist Jess Phoenix.
"Update your understanding," said Phoenix. "No one gets left out of human rights."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is facing criticism from human rights groups over a number of comments made in the last four years in which the billionaire businessman vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination referred to transgender people as "it" and expressed doubt that expressing support for LGBTQ civil rights was a good electoral strategy for the 2020 election.
"If your conversation during a presidential election is about some guy wearing a dress and whether he, she, or it can go to the locker room with their daughter, that's not a winning formula for most people," Bloomberg said at a Bermuda Business Development Agency forum on March 21, 2019.
The 2019 comments were unearthed and reported on by Buzzfeed News journalist Dominic Holden on Tuesday.
Holden's colleague at Buzzfeed, Hayes Brown, noted that Bloomberg was erasing trans people across the country.
"Underrated part of this clip: Bloomberg using the classic 'this is just what you'd hear if you ask someone in the middle of the country' framing, as if trans people and their loved ones don't live anywhere but on the coasts," said Brown.
NBC News reporter Ben Kesslen pointed out that Bloomberg was not only insulting trans people but also the broader electorate.
"At the core of Bloomberg's comments--just like the ones that resurfaced last week--is a deep condescension," said Kesslen. "He seems to believe trans rights don't matter to 'regular' people."
Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David said in a statement that Bloomberg "should apologize for using language that demoralizes and dehumanizes members of our community."
"We expect all pro-equality candidates, including Mayor Bloomberg, to create policy solutions to end the epidemic of violence our community faces, not use the same talking points our opponents use to dehumanize transgender people and justify their own hateful beliefs," David said. "LGBTQ people are human and deserve to be treated with respect."
David's colleague, Human Rights Campaign rapid response press secretary Charlotte Clymer, echoed the call for Bloomberg to apologize, saying she was "heartbroken and infuriated."
"His remarks are cruel, inexcusable, and enable violence and discrimination against trans and non-binary folks," Clymer said.
The 2019 comments were just the most recent instance of Bloomberg's use of transphobic and homophobic language resurfacing as the billionaire ramps up advertising spending in advance of the Super Tuesday contest on March 3. In 2016, Bloomberg said that voters in the Midwest would react poorly to "the concept that some man wearing a dress should be in a locker room with their daughter." And a book of old quotes from Bloomberg from 1990, published in full for the first time by the Washington Post on February 15, cites the billionaire using a homophobic slur.
Bloomberg's comments "display a stunning ignorance of how many gender non-conforming folks live all over our country and across the world," tweeted scientist Jess Phoenix.
"Update your understanding," said Phoenix. "No one gets left out of human rights."
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is facing criticism from human rights groups over a number of comments made in the last four years in which the billionaire businessman vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination referred to transgender people as "it" and expressed doubt that expressing support for LGBTQ civil rights was a good electoral strategy for the 2020 election.
"If your conversation during a presidential election is about some guy wearing a dress and whether he, she, or it can go to the locker room with their daughter, that's not a winning formula for most people," Bloomberg said at a Bermuda Business Development Agency forum on March 21, 2019.
The 2019 comments were unearthed and reported on by Buzzfeed News journalist Dominic Holden on Tuesday.
Holden's colleague at Buzzfeed, Hayes Brown, noted that Bloomberg was erasing trans people across the country.
"Underrated part of this clip: Bloomberg using the classic 'this is just what you'd hear if you ask someone in the middle of the country' framing, as if trans people and their loved ones don't live anywhere but on the coasts," said Brown.
NBC News reporter Ben Kesslen pointed out that Bloomberg was not only insulting trans people but also the broader electorate.
"At the core of Bloomberg's comments--just like the ones that resurfaced last week--is a deep condescension," said Kesslen. "He seems to believe trans rights don't matter to 'regular' people."
Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David said in a statement that Bloomberg "should apologize for using language that demoralizes and dehumanizes members of our community."
"We expect all pro-equality candidates, including Mayor Bloomberg, to create policy solutions to end the epidemic of violence our community faces, not use the same talking points our opponents use to dehumanize transgender people and justify their own hateful beliefs," David said. "LGBTQ people are human and deserve to be treated with respect."
David's colleague, Human Rights Campaign rapid response press secretary Charlotte Clymer, echoed the call for Bloomberg to apologize, saying she was "heartbroken and infuriated."
"His remarks are cruel, inexcusable, and enable violence and discrimination against trans and non-binary folks," Clymer said.
The 2019 comments were just the most recent instance of Bloomberg's use of transphobic and homophobic language resurfacing as the billionaire ramps up advertising spending in advance of the Super Tuesday contest on March 3. In 2016, Bloomberg said that voters in the Midwest would react poorly to "the concept that some man wearing a dress should be in a locker room with their daughter." And a book of old quotes from Bloomberg from 1990, published in full for the first time by the Washington Post on February 15, cites the billionaire using a homophobic slur.
Bloomberg's comments "display a stunning ignorance of how many gender non-conforming folks live all over our country and across the world," tweeted scientist Jess Phoenix.
"Update your understanding," said Phoenix. "No one gets left out of human rights."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.