When Nike produced and aired a TV commercial highlighting trans athlete Chris Mosier, people on and off the Internet applauded the Swoosh for elevating the profile of this trailblazing athlete.
Yet least one person in Tuscaloosa, Ala., was so unhappy they filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.
The Tuscaloosa News reported on the complaint this week, as one of 18 FCC complaints filed by residents of the city of 100,000 in western Alabama.
This doesn’t mean the FCC took any action against Nike, Mosier or anyone else involved with the groundbreaking commercial. The commission didn’t. There was no need.
In addition to categorizing the transgender community as "a sexual movement centered on sexual identity confusion…;," the person took issue with a scene in the commercial where Mosier was putting on a shirt in a locker room, exposing his chest. At that point, a voiceover narration asks Mossier "How did you know they (team) would accept you?" Mosier replied "I didn't."
"She was born a woman, therefor there were genetically female breasts shown without reservation on broadcast television," the individual stated in the complaint. "It was intentionally indecent, immoral, nude, naked, perverted and perverse, sickening, psychologically destructive and should not be on television while Nike and NBC should be penalized heavily."
When reached via phone Tuesday evening, Mosier’s response was pitch-perfect:
“Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
Laughter is so often indeed the best medicine.
The ad by Nike was amazing. It showed a trans athlete as the person he was born to be. And by the way, Mosier has been an incredible trailblazer, forcing the International Olympic Committee’s hand on trans issues and opening the door for countless trans athletes to compete at the most elite levels for years to come.
Still, the complaint shows how much work all of us have to do to educate people on trans issues. Mosier is no less a man than I. Period. Look at him. Talk to him. He is a man. He belongs in a men’s locker room and absolutely should be taking his shirt off whenever the heck he wants. I wish I had his body!
You can see the commercial that caused such a stir in one Tuscaloosa household here:
