Strange Bedfellows

Bill O'Reilly: Transgender People Like Ewoks?

Jared Keller 172 Views May 20, 2010

What do Ewoks and transgendered people have in common? They were both the subject of an misguided comparison made by Bill O'Reilly on his show. O'Reilly whipped out this bizarre analogy while discussing a lawsuit against American Eagle with guests Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lis Wiehl. The suit alleged that the popular clothing retailer discriminated against transgendered workers with its employee dress code policy. "If you're a man, you can't dress like a woman, and vice versa," paraphrased O'Reilly. "You can't scare the customers. If your name is Fred, you can't look like Dolly Parton." While Guilfoyle and Wiehl sided with the transgendered community, O'Reilly had more to say on the matter.

O'REILLY: "If you owned a clothing corporation, you can say, 'You can dress like an Ewok, if you want"

WIEHL: "Ewoks have nothing to do with gender identity, which is what the law says.

O'REILLY: "Gender identity...Ewoks have genders too"

h/t Newser

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at jkeller at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Sources

Transgendered People Are Like Ewoks, Evann Gastaldo, Newser

Presented By

Topics: LGBT

Related Articles				More by Jared Keller
Bush's Daughter Endorses Gay Marriage	Frustrated Gay Voters Split on Supporting Dems	After Defeat, What Comes Next for Gay Marriage?		Foreign Policy's Susan Glasser: What I Read	Clara Jeffery: What I Read