On Tuesday night, Christine Hallquist won her Democratic primary election in Vermont, thereby becoming the first openly transgender gubernatorial candidate from a major political party in the United States.

The following morning, Fox & Friends‘ Ainsley Earhardt responded to Hallquist’s historic win by dehumanizing her as “that transgender.”

According to the GLAAD, NLGJA, and AP media guides, using “transgender” as a noun, as Earhardt did, is offensive.

The adjective "transgender" describes people whose gender identity does not match the sex or gender they were identified as having at birth. Identify people as transgender only if pertinent; don't use "transgendered" or call someone "a transgender." — AP Stylebook (@APStylebook) December 20, 2017

Hallquist told the Associated Press that while she’s proud to be the first major transgender gubernatorial candidate in the country, in Vermont she wants to be known primarily for her progressive platform.


For Fox & Friends, however, Hallquist’s victory amounted to little more than a punchline. The only detail that hosts mentioned about the Vermont race was that Hallquist beat a 14-year-old candidate — the implication being that a major victory for the trans community amounted to little more than a joke.