Logo Pulls Episode Of RuPaul's Drag Race After "She-Male" Complaints By Activists

Logo today announced that it has pulled an episode of RuPaul's Drag Race after transgender activists complained about a skit in which contestants were asked to view photos and declare whether the images were of "females or she-males." The issue has been a hot topic on some activist sites since the show first aired. From Logo's statement:

We wanted to thank the community for sharing their concerns around a recent segment and the use of the term 'she-mail' on Drag Race. Logo has pulled the episode from all of our platforms and that challenge will not appear again. Furthermore, we are removing the 'You've got she-mail' intro from new episodes of the series. We did not intend to cause any offense, but in retrospect we realize that it was insensitive. We sincerely apologize.

"She-male" is widely used in porn and is considered among the most pejorative anti-trans expressions by many activists. Two years ago a similar flap erupted over the word "tranny" and RuPaul commented on the issue in an interview with Michelangelo Signorile:

"In the ACT UP age we called ourselves queers because we earned the right, we took the word back. But in reality, once you go even deeper, you know, you have to come from intent. And black folks call themselves the n-word all the time. It's because the intent is coming from a place of love. If the intent is coming from a place of hatred, that's different. But you can't legislate intent. You can't -- there's no way to do it. So, the truth is, you have to fix that individually on a one by one basis. If somebody calls you a green martian, would you be offended by it? No, you wouldn't be. Why? Because you know you're not a green martian. But if you're offended by someone calling you a "tranny," it was only because you believe you are a "tranny!" [laughter.] So then, the solution is: Change your mind about yourself being a "tranny."