This Facebook post by the Bloomsburg Fair, since removed from the social media site, has gone viral for showing a man dressed as Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, who is transgender, posing in a charity dunk tank.
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Levine
This statement was released by Bloomsburg Fair officials on Monday regarding the dunk tank incident.
Via FOX 56
Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine has more important things to worry about than an impostor in a dunk tank.
In particular, she continues to lead the Wolf Administration’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
But images of what appeared to be a man in a flowered dress imitating Levine for a charity dunk tank — and shared by the official Bloomsburg Fair Facebook page — have drawn outrage from the LGBTQ community and others who say the incident was transphobic.
Levine is a transgender woman.
“She remains laser-focused on protecting the health and well-being of Pennsylvanians as we navigate this ongoing pandemic,” Health Department Press Secretary Nate Wardle said Monday afternoon when asked if Levine was aware of the incident.
“Dr. Levine does not have any further comment,” Wardle concluded.
The Facebook post, now removed, included photos from a Fireman’s Relief Carnival held Saturday on the fairgrounds.
“Dr. Levine? Thank you,” the official Bloomsburg Fair post started out.
“You were a hit and raised a lot of money for the local fire companies. Wonder why so many were trying to dunk you,” it continued, including a smiley face emoji.
Fair officials respond
No one answered when a reporter called the Bloomsburg Fair office on Monday, and the mailbox was full.
Officials later released a statement which was forwarded to the Times Leader from our news partners at FOX 56.
The statement, which consistently misspelled Levine’s name, is as follows:
On behalf of the Bloomsburg Fair, we are responding to a series of inquiries and comments regarding using the likeness of an individual dressed as Dr. Rachel Lavine in a dunk tank at the Columbia Montour County Fireman’s Relief Carnival. The sole purpose of the dunk tank, which was operated by the Bloomsburg Fair, was to utilize the likeness of a public figure in an effort to raise monies for local fire companies. The fundraising activities of such organizations have been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the governmental restrictions which have been imposed, accordingly, our intention was simply an effort to raise money to assist these organizations. At no time was it the intention of the Bloomsburg Fair, anyone affiliated with the Fair, including any sponsors of the Carnival, to knowingly utilize the likeness of Dr. Lavine in a dunk tank as any form of commentary on Dr. Lavine’s transgender identity. The Bloomsburg Fair and the sponsors of the event do not endorse any comments which arose subsequent to the event which disparage Dr. Lavine’s transgender identity or any other discriminatory comments.
Attacks on Levine
This is not the first time Levine’s gender identity has been targeted.
People critical of the administration’s handling of the COVID-19 response, particularly restrictions on businesses, have shared memes disparaging her appearance in recent months on social media.
And Levine fired back at a Pittsburgh radio host this spring after he repeatedly referred to the health secretary as “sir.”
“Please don’t misgender me. It’s really insulting,” Levine said then.
Such insults prompted The Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs in June to issue a press release defending Levine and denouncing transphobia.
State Rep. Brian Sims, D-Philadelphia, the state’s first openly gay elected state legislator as well as a Bloomsburg University graduate, said he was “disgusted” after learning of the fair’s post.
“Transphobia of any kind is an attack on both the individual and an attack on an entire community. I won’t be sharing the photos or posts out of respect for Dr. Levine but let me first say that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has been blessed with the world-class leadership and public health expertise that our Secretary of Health brings to the table,” Sims wrote in a Facebook post. “Her actions have saved tens of thousands of lives and she continues to be a leader nationally during this global pandemic.”
“Secondly, the Bloomsburg Fair owes Dr. Levine and the LGBTQ+ community a massive apology for perpetuating hatred, but it also owes us an investigation into how this happened, measurable plans to ensure that it doesn’t happen again, and a track record of accountability that can only he earned by doing right going forward,” Sims added.
Laurel Run Borough Mayor Justin Correll, who separately serves as a board member of LGBTQ advocacy group The NEPA Rainbow Alliance, criticized the Bloomsburg Fair for “a clear lack of judgment.”
“This bigotry is clearly not an accident as the post and multiple pictures from the event are depicted,” Correll wrote on Facebook.
Correll said he has “attended the fair yearly as long as I can remember,” and “I have met and become friends with several kindhearted and open-minded businesspeople at the fair looking to continue to assist local schools, organizations, and non-profits through their own businesses.”
“The organizers should reevaluate the method of fundraising, spreading offensive photos & words and most importantly make sure that if you are representing hundreds of vendors (who support your event buy purchasing a spot) and patrons through the gates… that you aren’t offending them as well,” Correll wrote.
This is not the fair’s first brush with controversy.
Four years ago fair officials banned the sale of Nazi memorabilia on their grounds after images went viral of a vendor who was selling such items and displaying a swastika flag.