WWE Took A Huge Step Backwards With Transphobic Segment

WWE made a huge mistake last night by broadcasting a tasteless segment that played on transphobia for cheap laughs. LGBTQ fans deserve better.

Like most queer folks who watch WWE programming, I was not exactly charmed by the Bobby Lashley and Sami Zayn segment on Raw last night. More annoyed. And disappointed. And, sadly, not surprised. Having men dress in feminine clothing and then having them get beat up by a wrestler is not groundbreaking material, but it is discussion-worthy. So let’s talk about it.

First of all: Seriously, what was the point of that!? Sami Zayn really hired some guys to dress up as Bobby Lashley’s sisters so they could ambush him in a wrestling ring? Is something this cringey and ridiculous supposed to make us fall in love with Bobby Lashley, or take Sami Zayn seriously as a heel? It was stupid, top to bottom, and it did nothing for either wrestler. If it was just a bad segment, I’d be happy to write it off as one of WWE’s attempted humor misfires and move on.

Unfortunately, the more you consider this segment, the worse WWE’s judgement looks. I think it would be pretty disingenuous to assume that WWE was trying to make a broader point about gender fluidity, so let’s take the segment at face value.

The men playing Bobby’s “sisters” are obviously supposed to be perceived by a typical WWE audience as male; one of them doesn’t even bother to hide a neatly-groomed moustache. If the punchline of a joke relies on a stereotypical male presenting as feminine, it’s a bad joke. At best it implies that it’s humiliatingly hilarious to be a woman, and at worst it’s incredibly insensitive to transgender individuals. So, don’t do that.

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It’s also worth considering the long-standing controversy around forced comedy drag performances among African-American men, an issue that isn’t going to benefit from the nuanced take provided by the WWE.

Worst of all, consider the specific way this bit was framed for the audience. The idea of a “man in a dress” is a cultural boogeyman, a short-hand slur for transgender people who are trying to gain access to spaces where they supposedly don’t belong for malicious purposes.

The fear of male predators in women’s clothing is not even remotely based on evidence, but despite that, it is still used as justification to promote transphobia and limit the rights of transgender people in public spaces.

Last night, a bunch of “men in dresses” were snuck into Raw to assault somebody, and they were beaten up for it while the crowd was encouraged to applaud. I don’t think I need to explain why that is so uncomfortable.

It was particularly disappointing to see Sami Zayn participate in this segment. Sami is known for being one of the most good-hearted dudes in the WWE.

He consistently advocates for progressive causes on social media, and the strength of his reputation has motivated hundreds of people to donate money to relief efforts in Syria. He’s also a supporter of Laura Jane Grace, the frontwoman of Against Me!, and is a big enough fan of the band that he wore their hoodie in a SmackDown promo.

You would honestly hope that a compassionate humanitarian with friends in the LGBTQ community would not be willing to participate in something like this. Who knows if he will listen to disappointed fans and apologize (or if he even can), but as a longtime fan of the guy, I’m sorry to say I trust him a little less now. I don’t know as much about Bobby Lashley, but he seems like a solid wrestler and I was looking forward to seeing him find a groove on Raw. I hope Zayn and Lashley address this somehow in a way that makes me comfortable cheering for them again.

I’m also hoping Zayn and Lashley speak up because, frankly, my expectations for WWE to address this are pretty low. One could give WWE the benefit of the doubt here and assume they’d somehow accidentally invoked cultural images of drag and queerness for a heel bit, but there’s just no reason to do that. WWE has a long history of invoking drag and queerness to villianize wrestlers or punish them for storyline purposes. Why should we assume they aren’t doing that now?

WWE needs to realize it still has a long way to go to earn the trust of LGBTQ fans, and this is not the way to make that happen. For all of the fans who wax nostalgic for the edgy humor of the Attitude Era, there are also fans who are pretty happy those days are over. Yeah, it’s funny to see Triple H tell a guy to suck it or watch Goldberg drive a zamboni into a wrestling ring.

It’s less funny to reckon with the company’s history of homophobic promos and mocking gay marriage for cheap heat.

I love wrestling now, but I didn’t watch it for a long time. Not because I didn’t like it, but because segments like those made me feel frightened of wrestling fans and unwelcome in the WWE universe. WWE is trying to sell itself as a more inclusive company these days, and that’s encouraged me to give the company another shot.

Right now, I’m not sure if it’s worth it. The rainbow Balor Club shirt is cool, but segments like the one we saw last night make one thing clear: WWE loves queer money, but it doesn’t care about queer fans.

Now, I’m not naive, and I don’t expect a multinational billion dollar company to care about me as a person. I do expect them to do the bare minimum amount of work needed to respect myself and my friends in the LGBTQ community. The thing WWE needs to realize is that if they don’t do that work, other companies will. Independent promotions like Pro Wrestling EVE, PROGRESS, and others have embraced their LGBTQ talent and worked to make their product more inclusive and welcoming for queer fans. And believe me, queer folks love wrestling. We will go to shows and buy shirts and talk you up like nobody’s business. But you have to make us feel welcome, and you have to show us we can trust you, or most of us won’t stick around.

Next: WWE Raw Review, Highlights, Grades, and Analysis

WWE and Raw took a massive step backwards last night, and unfortunately hung two of their biggest talents out to dry in the process. I’m going to be thinking twice about my WWE subscription this week. I need this company to do better by its talent and its fans. We’ll see what happens.

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