[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]
On the 2 June 2015 edition of CNN Newsroom, Carol Costello surprisingly interviewed a man who "transitioned" to being a woman, but reversed the cosmetic process after eight years. Costello respectfully interviewed Walt Heyer, even as she touted how Bruce Jenner "true to form...is breaking records – becoming the fastest Twitter account to reach one million followers," after he made his debut as "Caitlyn."
The anchor did wonder whether society now is "more accepting and, perhaps, Caitlyn Jenner's experience will be better than yours was." When Heyer spotlighted how "41 percent of transgenders will attempt suicide," Costello countered that there are "still a lot of people who don't support her choice," and played up conservative Erick Erickson's reaction to the Jenner news:
CAROL COSTELLO: Erick Erickson – I'm going to read you something that he posted on his blog, Red State, this morning. He said, 'When a 65-year-old former Olympian tells you that he has decided, after all these years, that he is a she, and his new name is going to be one – is going to be one fashionable among 17-year-old girls and his own son's girlfriend, your first reaction should be not to congratulate the man on finally finding his authentic self, but steering him into therapy.'
So I would suppose when you hear things like that – and you're going through this difficult time – that can really hurt, and it can cause you to be in severe pain.