Transgender advocate and writer Janet Mock agreed to do her first mainstream interview with CNNโs Piers Morgan on Tuesday, to discuss her critically acclaimed book, Redefining Realness. It didnโt go so well. Criticism from Mock and the transgender community led to a second interview on Wednesday, which, in the eyes of many viewers, didn't go any better.
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Morganโs initial interview with Mock drew scrutiny for its apparent focus on the details of her gender transitionโand fixation on the fact that she was previously identified as maleโover the substance of her book. He repeatedly referred to Mockโs birth name, and referenced โwhen she used to be a man."ย
In the second segment, Morgan inquired about Mockโs disclosure of her gender to the man she is currently dating. Only the last two minutes of the interview were dedicated to questions about Mockโs advocacy for transgender peopleโthe entire theme of her book.
In a Tuesday interview with Buzzfeed, Mock said, โTheyโre not talking about my advocacy or anything like that, itโs just about this most sensationalized โฆ meme of discussion of trans womenโs lives: โWeโre not real women, so therefore if weโre in relationships with men weโre deceiving them.โ So, it just feeds into those same kinds of myths and fears that they spread around, which leads to further violence of trans womenโs bodies and identities.โย
She took to Twitter to air her distaste for the interview, and Morgan responded by accusing Mock of โdeliberately, and falsely, fueling some sense of me being โtransphobic.โ โ
Defensiveness about what Morgan called "abuse" from Mock's supporters carried into the Wednesday interview. Morgan had spent the hours before the segment striking back at those who accused him of being "transphobic," by calling them "cisphobic." "Cis" is a term that refers to people who identify as the gender assigned to them at birth.
He insisted that he didnโt want the interview to be hostile, but again, repeatedly focused on Mockโs assigned gender at birthโthe same offense for which he was criticized after the initial segment.
โDo you dispute that you were born a boy?" he demanded.
Mock responded, โI was born a baby, not a boy.โ
After the interview, she tweeted, โTo my community, I hear you, see you and love you. Thank you for reminding me that I am not alone and I stand alongside fierce folk.โ
Watch both interviews below.
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