Tyra, Our New Ally?

This is for all my ANTM viewers out there. Don't lie. You know you watch it.

Okay. I knew that Tyra liked the gays. She's a model, and as we know, all models have tons of gay, male friends and whatnot. I assumed her GLBTQ friendliness did not go beyond hanging with Mr. and Ms. Jay after the show. While it was a big step for her to take to decide to have Isis, the first transwoman ever to be on ANTM, on the show this cycle, I thought that that would be the end of it. Isis was kicked off relatively early, and all the buzz about a transwoman on the show seemed to have died down.



Yesterday, Isis was on the Tyra Banks show. And so was Clark, another model from this cycle who is...narrowminded...shall we say. (I'll be nice.)

Here's what happened.
"Isis talked about her challenging experience on ANTM, including life with her fellow contestants. One of those contestants, Clark, then joined them on stage and was questioned by Tyra herself about the disparaging remarks (including calling Isis a "he-she") she had made about Isis throughout the competition.

Clark said she"loved" Isis but disagreed with her "choices," and then Tyra and Isis spent the remainder of the show explaining to Clark why her comments were ignorant and hurtful. Clark used the standard "I'm from the south" line of defense, which quickly morphed into the "I'm a Southern Baptist" line of defense, which then led her to say that Isis claiming to be transgender "was a slap in the face to me... because it's kind of like saying God made a mistake..."

Tyra closed the segment by advising Clark to open her mind.

As fun as it was to watch Clark get a long overdue spanking from Tyra for being a bigoted jerk, the high point of the show was when Tyra introduced Isis to Dr. Marcie Bowers, a leading sex reassignment surgeon best known for her show Sex Change Hospital (WEtv). Bowers offered to evaluate Isis and perform the operation, and, according to TVGuide.com, Banks and Bowers will split the cost of the surgery. Isis was ecstatic and grateful, and tearfully told them, "[I feel] like I'm about to wake up.""

(Taken from Afterellen.com)

Who knew? Seriously. You go, Tyra. You've moved up so many points on my list. Tomorrow's episode tackles gay marriage. I can't wait.