Letter to NBC (1996)
©1996, 2013 by Dallas Denny
Source: Dallas Denny. (1996, 29 February). Letter to Warren Littlefield, President, NBC. Twenty: The Newsletter of the XX Club, January/February, 1996, p. 2
This letter was AEGIS’ response to the Weekend Update feature on Saturday Night Live aired on 24 February, 1996.
29 February, 1996
Warren Littlefield
President, NBC
3000 West Alameda Avenue
Burbank, CA 91523
Dear Mr. Littlefield:
We are aghast at the insensitivity shown toward transsexual people by Norm MacDonald on “Weekend Update” on the 24 February episode of Saturday Night Live. He said,
In Nebraska this week, a man was sentenced to death for attempting to kill a female crossdresser who accused him of raping her. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but in my opinion, everybody in this case deserved to die.
Mr. MacDonald was responding to a news item about the sentencing of John Lotter, who killed Brandon Teena and two of his friend in a rural farmhouse in Nebraska two years ago. Despite having been born with a female body, Teena lived as a man, for which “crime” he was raped by Lotter and another man, and then killed one week later. Police deliberately ignored what they knew was a dangerous situation.
It is simply unbelievable that MacDonald would say that Teena deserved to die because of the clothes he wore, and that his friends deserved to die, presumably because they were his friends. An apology is due Teena’s family and the families of the other victims. I hope that you see that it is given. I have enjoyed SNL’s irreverent humor since its debut more than 20 years ago. I’m very sorry to see that what was once my favorite television program has sunk so low.
Sincerely,
Dallas Denny, M.A.
Executive Director
American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc