A charity event in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, became controversial after a social media post compared a man in a garbage tank, wearing a dress, blonde wig, and glasses, to the health secretary. from the state, Dr. Rachel Levine, who is transgender and has been leading the state’s coronavirus response.
“Dr. Levine? Thank you. You were successful and raised a lot of money for local fire companies. I wonder why so many were trying to sink you? A now-deleted Facebook post shared by the Bloomsburg Fair Association, he stated.
The association hosted the carnival event for firefighters this past weekend, and also hosts the Annual Bloomsburg Fair, the state’s largest event (though this year, scheduled for September, could be canceled due to concerns related to COVID-19) .
The man in the tank was David Broadt, the Main Township fire chief. Broadt told The Press Enterprise that he was “looking for a Marilyn Monroe look,” all “just for fun.”
“It was not done to disrespect him,” Broadt said of Levine.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the president of the Bloomsburg Fair Association, Randy Karschner, said “we apologize” for the publication on the Facebook page of his organization and said that a carnival attendee had commented that the person in the tank he looked like Levine.
“Someone came by and said he looked like the doctor and just left there,” said Karschner. “It was a good time until it hit social media, and in retrospect 20/20, sometimes it’s not as clear up front as it is behind it.”
In a statement, Levine spokesman Nate Wardle said the secretary “remains focused on protecting the health and well-being of Pennsylvania residents as we navigate through this ongoing pandemic.”
Wardle shared a statement released last month by the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs denouncing the transphobic abuse that has followed Levine since he became a public face in the fight against the pandemic.
“Week after week, members of the LGBTQ community and thousands of Pennsylvanians have been tuned in to be informed by our Health Secretary only to be attacked by a series of comments and defamation directed directly at Dr. Levine and indirectly at all. transgender Pennsylvania residents, “the statement said. “Whether a member of the media is misinterpreting it or social media comments are being thrown in her direction, we admire how Dr. Levine has shown poise and the highest degree of professionalism.”
In June, Levine told NBC News that he expected his public-facing role in the midst of the pandemic to be something that “educates people about LGBTQ and transgender people.”
Senator Bob Casey, D-Pa., Said Levine is owed an apology for the carnival incident.
“Dr. Levine is an honorable public servant whose tireless work to keep the AP safe and healthy has saved countless lives,” he wrote on Twitter Monday. “Members of the Pennsylvania transgender community are our neighbors and friends. Treat them that way.
Pennsylvania State Representative Brian Sims, a Democrat from Philadelphia, praised Levine’s pandemic leadership in a series of tweets this week. Sims also said that, as a student at Pennsylvania’s Bloomsburg University, he was “disgusted” by the incident in his alma mater’s hometown, which he unequivocally described as “transphobia.”
“Pennsylvania has been blessed with the world-class leadership and public health expertise that our Secretary of Health brings to the table,” wrote Sims. “Her actions have saved tens of thousands of lives and she continues to be a leader during this global pandemic.”
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The Associated Press contributed
