Transgender official takes abuse while leading state’s virus efforts
Many of the attacks against Pennsylvania’s health secretary have little to do with the way she has handled the statewide response to the coronavirus pandemic.
As a transgender woman, Dr. Rachel Levine has been subjected to a stream of mockery and abuse on social media and elsewhere. Every time she goes on camera to update the public and implore Pennsylvanians to wear masks, wash their hands and “stay calm, stay alert and stay safe,” ugly comments and memes follow.
Over the weekend, one of the state’s most popular fairs — the 165-year-old Bloomsburg Fair — found itself in hot water after posting a photo of a man in a dunk tank who had donned a blond wig, floral-print dress and glasses. The dunk tank was part of a weekend carnival held on the fairgrounds to benefit the region’s volunteer fire departments.
“Dr. Levine? Thank you you were a hit and raised a lot of money for the local fire companies. Wonder why so many were trying to dunk you,” said the Bloomsburg Fair Association’s post, which included a smiley-face emoji.
The fair deleted the post from its Facebook page, but critics slammed the dunk tank impersonation and the fair association’s comment as transphobic. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, and other politicians issued statements of condemnation. Some people said they planned to skip this year’s fair, scheduled for late September.
In a written statement, the fair said that Levine’s likeness was used to raise money for fire departments whose fundraising has been hampered by COVID-19, and had nothing to do with her gender identity. The statement pointed out she’s a public figure.
Fair officials subsequently held a news conference Tuesday and apologized, saying they meant no harm.
“A fellow dressed up in a dress to get people to throw balls at the dunk tank to raise money. It turned into where people thought we were offending Dr. Rachel Levine, and that was no intention at all,” said Fair President Randy Karschner.
The Press Enterprise newspaper of Bloomsburg identified the man in the dunk tank as Main Township Fire Chief David Broadt, who told the newspaper he did not set out to impersonate Levine — he said he was “going for a Marilyn Monroe look.”