On Fox, Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Kristen Waggoner repeatedly misgenders trans woman

Fox regularly provides a space for ADF to spread its anti-LGBTQ messaging, and ADF attorneys have misgendered trans women on the network in the past

Written by Brennan Suen

Published

Appearing on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) lawyer Kristen Waggoner repeatedly misgendered a transgender woman who is suing her client Jack Phillips for refusing to bake a cake celebrating her gender transition. ADF is one of the largest and most powerful extreme anti-LGBTQ groups in the nation, and Phillips previously appeared before the Supreme Court for refusing to bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding. ADF is pushing several other license-to-discriminate cases through the courts aiming to allow various businesses to legally discriminate against LGBTQ people.

GLSEN, an LGBTQ-inclusive education advocacy organization, defines misgendering as “the experience of being labeled by others as a gender other than one that a person identifies with.” Misgendering is a form of harassment and has thus been banned on Twitter. It not only invalidates the identities of trans people, but it can also have negative effects on their self-confidence and mental health. Trans adolescents already experience high levels of attempted suicide -- particularly transgender boys and nonbinary young people -- but a March study by researchers from the University of Texas at Austin found that “when transgender youths are allowed to use their chosen name in places such as work, school and at home, their risk of depression and suicide drops.” Fox News regularly provides a safe place for ADF to push its anti-LGBTQ bigotry, and in November, ADF attorney Kate Anderson also repeatedly misgendered a trans woman on the network.

From the January 8 edition of Fox News' The Ingraham Angle:

LAURA INGRAHAM (HOST): Alright, so what’s going on here? Pink cake on the outside, blue on the inside. I’ve already gotten confused by that, but what’s happening here?

KRISTEN WAGGONER (ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM): Well, I think the first thing is to look at simply what Autumn Scardina said in his declaration and that was filed with the court and with the commission. He said he wanted a cake that reflected and celebrated his gender transition. That is the message he wanted in the cake. Jack is all about serving his customers and serving people of all faiths, of all walks of life, but he can't express all messages, and no artist should have to do that. What’s even more telling about this setup by Autumn Scardina is that a few weeks later, he called back. And this time, he requested a cake asking Jack to celebrate Satan's birthday and promote marijuana. What’s even more astounding is that the Colorado Commission saw this setup, and 24 days from when the Supreme Court ruled, it decided to get on Autumn Scardina’s bus and pursue the hostility and harassment that he was attempting to invoke and put on Jack Phillips.