For the past few days, rumors have been swirling that Caitlyn Jenner, who had previously said that Donald Trump would be a champion for LGBT rights, would share a dance with the incoming president at the inauguration festivities. A Jenner rep reportedly told People magazine that’s not true, but did so in an incredibly offensive way.
“This is a ridiculous story,” the rep said. “There have been no discussions about who Caitlyn will or won’t dance with, or if she will dance at all. I can’t deal in hypotheticals and have no idea what any Trump aids hope happens. Of course, the real question is if they danced, who would lead?”
Ahh yes, who would lead? The joke being that men traditionally lead in a dance, and Jenner was assigned male at birth, so haha it’d be like two men dancing.
Trump has reportedly been urged to dance with Jenner to send a message of support for the LGBT community, though Jenner has a thorny history when it comes to LGBT politics. She identifies as a Republican, a party traditionally hostile to LGBT rights, and though she admitted the Democrats had a more pro-LGBT platform, she said “it was easy to come out as trans, it was harder to come out as a Republican.”
She has also been criticized for not always recognizing her economic privilege, which keeps her out of touch with the realities many trans people face, such as homelessness, abuse and discrimination.