Mike Huckabee uninvited from Jewish group’s event after ‘creepy’ transgender shower joke
The Jewish National Fund of Canada has cancelled a speech by Republican Mike Huckabee – after he joked that he wishes he was transgender to spy on teenage girls in the shower.
Mr Huckabee, a Republican Presidential hopeful in the US, initially made the joke at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention.
He said of anti-discrimination laws: “Now I wish that someone told me when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE.
“I’m pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, ‘Coach, I think I’d rather shower with the girls today’.”
The candidate later insisted he stood by the joke, claiming his comments were “common sense” – but he has come under fire from activists over the “creepy” joke.
Following a petition, non-profit group the Jewish National Fund of Canada, which had invited Huckabee to give a speech at Ottawa’s Negev Dinner, has retracted his invitation.
Mr Huckabee was set to raise funds for autism research – but the charity told the Canadian Jewish News he would no longer speak as “the media spotlight has recently focused on Mr Huckabee’s comments about issues that bear no relevance to JNF or autism.”
The petition had said: “The lives of transgender Canadians are filled with many challenges. Studies of those living in Ottawa show high rates of depression, suicide (attempts as high as 50% among youth), and social isolation caused in part by rejection by family and friends.
“There is a serious shortage of services in Ottawa in support of their medical, psychological, social and spiritual needs.
“This is a segment of our community that needs your support, not the appearance of yet further rejection and abuse, as clearly promoted by your announced speaker, Mr Huckabee.”
