René van der Gijp must still apologize for his controversial transgender joke from 2018, according to presenter Loiza Lamers, who is also transgender herself. “I would really really appreciate that.”
Loiza Lamers, former winner of Holland’s Next Top Model and currently presenter of Singletown, believes that René van der Gijp has exceeded all decency standards in 2018. In that year the Flemish reporter Bo Van Spilbeeck was big in the news with her transformation from man to woman and René thought that was just a freak show.
transgender riot
René decided to surprise his viewers of Veronica Inside with his ‘transformation’ into Renate van der Gijp. Wearing a blond wig and lipstick, he had the laughter on his hand, but many transgender people felt hugely ridiculed. Especially because of the damning words about transgender people: “We shouldn’t pretend this is normal.”
The most painful thing is that RTL, where VI was still broadcast at the time, knew about this transgender joke in advance. Afterwards, the channel found it no reason to take the program off the tube. The men of VI eventually reacted quite annoyed to all the criticism. “The people who want to screw us are taking away our smiles!”
Loize responds
Four years later, Loiza Lamers indicates that she is still unable to look at the men. “I just really can’t see it anymore. That happened to the whole transgender story,” she says in the podcast Content Wars†
She can still remember the conscious Friday broadcast of VI well. “What I found very shocking in that situation then: all weekend so many people were hurt and angry. It was very sad. Stories also came online and an article appeared in the newspaper on Monday.”
Ridicule
What was in this article? Loiza: “In that he went really hard again and he went even further with blaming and ridiculing people. Then I really thought to myself: you are really doing it wrong. If you’re making a joke that didn’t hit and land, fine. Then you say, ‘This was not meant to be.’”
“But then he went on to defend it and debunk the counter arguments, which made no sense. Then I thought: you don’t realize how many people you hurt. Then the sadness and the feeling really came to me. I was really sad and thought: what you are now writing in the newspaper, as if it is all nothing and that we shouldn’t be fooling ourselves…”
Apologies anyway
René has no idea how hard it is for people who were born in the wrong body, according to Loiza. “I thought: you don’t know what you’re saying, you haven’t been the one who is in a transition and has to fight against a society.”
Should René still make an apology? “I am someone who wants to forgive at some point. I’d like it. I wouldn’t like it in the sense of: hahaha, but I would really like it. But then I also think: why are you making excuses? Because people are bothered by it or because you sincerely want to make excuses yourself?”
Fragment
VI’s transgender joke: