Sports Illustrated Under Fire for Transgender Model on Cover
Sports Illustrated is the most recent company to come under fire for partnering with a transgender model after it featured Grammy winner and singer-songwriter Kim Petras as one of four models on the cover of its 2023 Swimsuit Edition.Conservatives have centered transgender people in their legislative crosshairs, with hundreds of anti-gender-affirming care bills proposed by legislators throughout the nation since the start of the year.Companies have experienced backlash from partnering with transgender influencers, with conservatives speaking out against Bud Light's partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April, responding in violent outbursts such as lining up Bud Light cans and shooting at the beer cans with guns.Most recently, a discussion on Twitter centered around Sports Illustrated for featuring Petras—half-submerged in a crystalline azure body of water and donned in a bejeweled gold bikini top—on the cover of one of its highly anticipated Swimsuit Edition magazines.The unveiled cover elicited critical responses from both women and men, with several people condemning Sports Illustrated for its model choice."The 2023 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition cover model is a biological man with fake boobs.
I really hope men are #Done with Sports Illustrated," political scientist Scarlett Johnson tweeted.The 2023 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition cover model is a biological man with fake boobs.
I really hope men are #Done with Sports Illustrated. https://t.co/FRIjS7FZNR pic.twitter.com/LTdlZb5cZJ"How would you like to be a sports illustrated supermodel and find out they didn't choose you, but they chose a Trans instead to be on the cover of the Swimsuit Edition?" a self-proclaimed MAGA supporter tweeted.
