Kristen Bell “Jokes” About Murdered Trans Man Brandon Teena In “Bad Moms” Trailer

Last week, the actress positioned herself as an LGBT ally in the wake of the Orlando shootings.
From: NewNowNext

 A trailer for the new film Bad Moms invokes the tragic murder of Brandon Teena, a Nebraska man who was raped and killed by close friends in 1993 after they found out he was transgender, for the sake of a “joke” about Mila Kunis’ breasts.

The film is a comedy about three “stressed out moms on a quiet quest to liberate themselves from conventional responsibilities.”

At one point in the trailer, the three stars — Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn — are gathered in a bedroom talking about Mila Kunis’ unattractive bra, which they’ve dubbed the “mom bra.”

“It looks like you have one long boob,” says Hahn. “It looks like you wrapped an Ace bandage around yourself like three times.”

Bell adds: “You got a very Boys Don’t Cry thing happening right now.” She’s referring to the 1999 Brandon Teena biopic which starred Hilary Swank and Chloë Sevigny. At one point in the film, Swank spends an emotional few moments binding her chest with a similarly-colored Ace bandage.

On Twitter, LGBT people and allies were expressed their outrage over the transphobic reference.

“YouTube insisted on not letting me skip a trailer for ’bad moms’ which manages to be sexist and transphobic in the same breath,” one person wrote.

oh good. and YouTube insisted on not letting me skip a trailer for "bad moms" which manages to be sexist and transphobic in the same breath

— idgaf (@nevermordor) May 3, 2016

hey u wanna explain how ur such a good fucking ally & yet u spat out a transphobic joke for "bad moms" w/o blinking an eye? @IMKristenBell

— gay (@transluke) June 18, 2016

Writing for the Huffington Post, trans activist S. Bear Bergman said the casual nature of the film’s transphobia and the lack of the stars’ response to outrage are indicative of a larger transphobic culture that, for the most part, is still largely intolerant of people’s differences.

Said Bergman: “How are we supposed to teach children to stand for justice and equality when they’re surrounded daily with endless, reinforcing messages that only some people’s lives are important and others are fine to make a joke about?”