Correspondence with a Cretin or: The World's Worst Editorial Cartoonist

A few weeks ago, there was an incident at my workplace in which, having to relieve myself but finding the men's room occupied, I used the women's room instead. I didn't think much of it at the time, since our restrooms are essentially unisex, with your basic toilet/sink/changing table combo and the only differences between the two being the artwork on the walls. There is nothing about the two restrooms that characterize either of them as being necessarily "male" or "female". So my fellows employees and I (and some of our customers) generally think nothing about using either one interchangably. Thinking nothing of it, I entered the women's room, did my business, and was leaving when I saw an elderly woman glaring at me and muttering under her breath. "The sign says women's room...he just used the women's room...gross...disgusting." She continued to stare at me and I could overhear her talking to her husband under her breath about how they should tell somebody. I was tempted to say, "Oh, for fuck's sake, lady. Grow the fuck up," but managed to restrain myself. After several tense minutes, the woman and her husband finally left the store, but not before saying to one of my co-workers that I shouldn't work at a bookstore, since I obviously don't know how to read. The joke's on her, though. We're hanging up the "unisex" bathroom signs this week!

Thinking about the incident, I wondered if she was a supporter of the South Dakota potty police and other degenerates who seem to have an unhealthy obsession with the bathroom habits of people that they've never even met. She might almost certainly be a fan of A.F. Branco, my candidate for the worst editorial cartoonist of all time. Actually, I don't know if he's the worst, but he's certainly the most disgusting. His type of humor is the kind you would find scrawled on the restroom walls of white supremacist rallies, the kind of hateful drivel that appeals only to those with the maturity and sophistication of sub-literate third-graders. He's the perfect cartoonist for the Donald Trump crowd: mean-spirited, peurile, bigoted, and unburdened by unpleasant concepts like "shame" and "human empathy". He's Archie Bunker with a box of Crayolas and Big Chief tablets, only even more vile and offensive, if that's humanly possible.

Until this past Saturday, one of my favorite websites was the site for the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, or AAEC, for short. (www.editorialcartoonists.com). The site is a mixed bag of cartoonists: some funny and insightful, others not as much. As with any collection of different cartoonists, there's going to a wide variety of issues and opinions that are contrary to the ones that you believe. That goes with the territory. It's no secret that I'm a more left-leaning kind of person, so cartoons with a conservative slant are going to annoy me. And I have no problem with that. Everyone is entitled to his or her own personal beliefs and opinions and they have the right to express them as such. Fair enough. But when those views cross the line into bigotry and hate speech, that's when I draw the line (no pun intended). On Saturday, I had just gotten off an eight-hour shift at work and was exhausted. I was in the mood to surf the web a little bit before taking a nap and went over the AAEC page. The first few were all fairly benign and then I got to Branco's: a nasty, bigoted piece of work that implied that transgender people were all sexual predators who wanted to molest children in public restrooms. I refuse to sully my page with this ugly cartoon, but you can see in the Saturday archives of the link that I've provided. Feel free to find a nice fluffy pillow to punch or scream into first, because if you have any sense of decency, you will not be in a good mood after seeing it.

Naturally, I was disgusted by this horrible cartoon. I had seen Branco's work before and it was the usual conservative blathering: Obama is the antichrist, Hillary and Bernie are Commies, blah, blah, blah. This went beyond the pale. This was the degradation and slandering of an entire group of people for a cheap laugh. I couldn't believe that the usually-respectable AAEC would allow such kind of hate speech on their site, especially toward a group of people who have enough difficulties to deal with in life without being further stigmatized by an unfunny hack. When LGBT teens are committing suicide at an alarming rate, this kind of humor stops being funny very quickly. I contacted the president of AAEC and asked him to drop Branco from their webpage. I got no response, so I contacted Branco himself. I told him that his cartoon was disgusting and unfunny, and that it promoted hateful stereotypes that could result in violence toward trans people and felt that he owed the LGBT community and apology. This was his response:

"Sorry, but your diseased leftist warped way way (sic) of thinking has created more victims of opportunity and is infringing on peoples (sic) basic privacy. If you have a vagina, use the women's room, if you have a penis use the Men's room - it's that simple. I don't buy your self- righteous garbled selective compassion, that you allow for only those who fall into your agenda driven lunacy. "

It was exactly the type of response I would expect from someone who makes a living by dehumanizing people they don't know. Apparently, compassion and empathy for your fellow man are examples of "agenda driven lunacy". Also, I was quite annoyed to be called a "diseased leftist", as I had just had a check-up and had gotten a clean bill of health from my doctor. This was my reply:

"Your reaction is hilarious, and about as civil and mature as I expect from a hack who tears others down for a cheap joke. I would rather be a "diseased leftist" with compassion for oppressed minorities than a hateful bully who relies on cheap stereotypes and generalizations to hurt others. Trans people have to deal with enough bullshit on a daily basis without further stigmatization from unfunny cartoonists who will never win a Pulitzer Prize."

 I went on a little further, but you get the point. His only response to that one was a smiley-face emoji, which I actually thought was kind of funny. That doesn't change the fact that I think he's a loathesome asshole whose cartoons are the artistic equivalent of toxic waste. Art can and should be used to enlighten, entertain, and enrich people's lives instead of destroying it. I'm not saying that art shouldn't be offensive or that it shouldn't challenge our beliefs, but I am saying that there's a big difference between taking down powerful people and organizations and picking on the powerless. Art can be a powerful weapon, but like other weapons, it should be used carefully and responsibly, and not to harm innocent people. Taking cheap shots at those who are already stigmatized on a daily basis is the complete opposite of courage. It's a cowardly act that diminishes both artist and subject. It says "I am no better than this. I am not a mature adult, but an obnoxious, petty child. I am limited in my heart and in my imagination." Fuck A.F. Branco and anyone else who thinks like him. Fuck bullies in general. Maybe I should've said nothing and let it go, but dammit all, sometimes you've got to do something. Sometimes, instead of ignoring something wrong, you've got to say something, even if it seems like it won't matter in the long run. Just one stand against hatred, ignorance, bigotry, and stupidity makes all the difference. The best artists are the ones who use their powers for good instead of evil. Their work will last forever, long after the art of the A.F. Brancos of the world have rotted away in a landfill for all eternity.