Karlos’ Apology For Those Transphobic Remarks Somehow Up For An LGBT Award

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September 5, 2016

You might remember when, last month, loveable larrikin Karl Stefanovic made some uneducated / transphobic remarks on the ‘Today’ show, those which received widespread backlash from the LGBTQIA community and its allies.

He later offered a heartfelt apology for his ignorance – which involving using the word ‘tr*nny’ multiple times, despite that being a defamatory slur that shouldn’t be used unless a transgender person chooses to use it to define themselves – and it was put to bed as a lesson learnt.

Except now a strange thing has happened: Karlos’ apology has gone and got him nominated for an award recognising “outstanding achievements within or contributions to NSW‘s LGBTI community”.

I am absolutely not joking about Karl Stefanovic’s nomination for an LGBTI media award for making an apology pic.twitter.com/L9EAPu6N3I

— Casey Briggs (@CaseyBriggs) September 5, 2016

Run by LGBT charity Aurora to raise funds for HIV support and prevention organisation ACON, the Honor Awards‘ 34 finalists were selected from 170 nominations across eight categories, the winners of each will be honoured at a swanky gala ceremony and cocktail party at Sydney’s Ivy Ballroom later this month.

While full respect goes to Karl for taking the initiative to apologise for his misstep, and better educate himself, social media is already pointing out that being feted for an apology that shouldn’t have had to be made in the first place is a little off next to journalists nominated for genuinely contributing to the discussion with stories on everything from anti-gay crimes to their own deeply personal experiences of bullying.

not only is he nominated, Karl Stefanovic is the headline on the media release pic.twitter.com/CYzmQCU6dm

— Casey Briggs (@CaseyBriggs) September 5, 2016

And they say millennials are the ones who get medals for trying https://t.co/cNHR8NQNhj

— Scarlett Harris (@ScarlettEHarris) September 5, 2016

“groundbreaking apology” as in break the ground and bury me i am dead this is rock bottom https://t.co/SBV0aa4sh1

— men don’t @ me (@lizduckchong) September 5, 2016

no one wants to listen to a trans person talk about trans stuff, but they’ll literally award a cis person for doing a shitty job of it

— allison gallagher (@aewgallagher) September 5, 2016

HAHA LITERALLY AWARDED FOR APOLOGISING https://t.co/KvBp4eY5ZV

— Bec Shaw (@Brocklesnitch) September 5, 2016

If Karl Stefanovic was legit he’d say thanks to the organisers & refuse the nomination. You shouldn’t get a prize for correcting a mistake.

— Kimberley Ramplin (@Kimbo_Ramplin) September 5, 2016

But ACON has justified its decision on Facebook, citing the impact of a 60 Minutes story about the struggles faced by transgender teens that Karl worked on after that fact as further justification for his nomination.

“Their ensuing story was a tender and thoughtful piece that challenged an incredibly large and broad range of viewers to contemplate the very real challenges facing members of the trans community when it was broadcast,” it reads.

Now all we need for this thing to come full circle is for Karlos to apologise for being nominated for an apology.