In recent years, Dave Chappelle has repeatedly discussed trans issues in his standup. Many have deemed his trans material insensitive and transphobic, and the backlash at one point grew so strong that a number of Netflix employees staged a walkout in protest. Dave has used the backlash in his sets as a way to harp on cancel culture.
Now, one of Chappelle’s specials which had been considered transphobic, “The Closer,” has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy. It was the same special which spurred the Netflix walkout, and TMZ spoke with one of the organizers of the walkout to get her reaction to the nomination.
“What it really underscores for me is the power of queer and trans viewership,” said Ashlee Marie Preston, the LGBTQ+ rights activist. “Because if we’re being very clear, it’s the incendiary and inflammatory content being directed at us that solicited the reaction that then gave the special more press and more headlines.”
She continued to say that this time, she and fellow organizers are rethinking their strategy to combat anti-trans rhetoric. “Now we’re having a conversation around what it means to have a response instead of a reaction,” she explained. “And how to translate some of that outrage that [Chappelle] was able to benefit from towards some of the queer and trans people who were actually nominated for Emmy’s.”
In other words, it seems that Preston and others are hoping to draw more attention to people who are telling queer stories with empathy and sensitivity. She didn’t want to get too much into the details however, because, she said, “If they see it coming… they’re going to try to derail it.”
[via]