Canadian psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson chimed in on the NFL taking on its first transgender cheerleader, commenting that the athlete is “not beautiful either,” a reference to a comment Peterson made last month.
Justine Simone Lindsay, a biological male who identifies as female, is now a member of the Carolina Panthers cheerleading squad. Lindsay made the announcement this week via Instagram, and Panthers TopCats cheerleading director Chandalae Lanouette confirmed the move to BuzzFeed.
“Not beautiful either,” Peterson commented on the photo of Lindsay cheering. “Happy now Twitter trolls?”
Not beautiful either. Happy now Twitter trolls?
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) June 6, 2022
Peterson last month hit Sports Illustrated for featuring a plus-sized model on the cover of its annual Swimsuit Issue, The Daily Wire reported.
“Sorry. Not beautiful,” the author commented via Twitter. “And no amount of authoritarian tolerance is going to change that.”
Peterson was then inundated with an “endless flood” of backlash, he said, and announced a short departure from Twitter.
“The endless flood of vicious insult is really not something that can be experienced anywhere else,” he wrote. “I like to follow the people I know but I think the incentive structure of the platform makes it intrinsically and dangerously insane.”
“So I told my staff to change my password, to keep me from temptation, and am departing once again,” Peterson continued. “If I have something to say I’ll write an article or make a video. If the issue is not important enough to justify that then perhaps it would be best to just let it go.”
“And I plan to write an article on the technical reasons that Twitter is maddening us all very soon,” the psychologist added. “Bye for now.”
As highlighted by The Daily Wire, Lindsay said on social media that the athlete “cannot wait to show you all what this girl has to bring.”
“This is a moment I will never forget and I cannot wait to show you all what this girl has to bring,” Lindsay posted to Instagram, captioning a photo from the field.
The league’s first openly trans cheerleader described the general response to BuzzFeed. “I just felt like when I posted it, whatever reaction I get from everyone, it does not matter,” Lindsay said. “And then my phone started blowing up.”
“This is a moment I will never forget and I cannot wait to show you all what this girl has to bring,” the post added. “Thank you [TopCats] a dream come true.”
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