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Tinashe's Response to Lance Armstrong's Comments on Trans Athletes Was Perfect
Armstrong, who cheated his way to winning seven Tour de Frances, said trans athletes aren't "being fair" during an episode of Stars on Mars.
Stars on Mars is one of the strangest reality shows we’ve ever seen, and in the latest episode, disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong decided to make it even more uncomfortable.
In a clip from the Fox reality show where a group of celebrities live together in a simulated Mars base, Armstrong — who was infamously banned from ever competing in professional cycling and was stripped of his career achievements (including his Olympic bronze medal and several Tour de France titles) after he was charged with using performance enhancers and steroids — decided to let his opinion on trans athletes be known, despite no one seemingly asking.
“I said, ‘Listen, this is real simple,’” he said to an uncomfortable-looking Ronda Rousey, recalling when he was invited on a podcast to discuss “transgender stuff in sports” about a month earlier. “You want to transition, let’s do it. You have your own category. We’re gonna have a whole new division. We’ll celebrate you just like we celebrate everybody else. Let's go. What’s unfair about that?”
“To me, I think we just have to think about the otherized people, it’s not good for their mental health,” popstar Tinashe chimed in. “To kind of like, exclude them from the same spaces and places that everyone else is.”
“Actually, no, we’re not excluding anyone,” Armstrong tried to argue. “And by the way, I sound like a right-wing lunatic. I’m not. I’m the most liberal person. But from a sporting perspective…”
Tinashe wasn’t the only one made uncomfortable by Armstrong’s remarks.
“You’re ostracizing the people who don’t fit in the categories,” said Modern Family star Ariel Winter.
“That is so disheartening,” Olympic figure skater Adam Ripon added.
Tinashe and Rippon continued discussing the issue in confessionals.
“I wasn’t really shocked to hear his opinions,” Tinashe said. “But I definitely didn’t think that he should be the spokesperson for that.”
“Those comments here in this experiment have completely shifted the energy, and have completely shifted the focus, and I will not ever forget them.”
A once well-respected cyclist and athlete, Armstrong is most famous for cheating by using banned performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids, for over a decade when he won seven Tour de France titles. His opinion on whether or not other people are playing fair is highly dubious.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
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