An investigation into Michael Correia, a Providence, Rhode Island City Council member, has unearthed recordings in which the city official refers to a transgender activist and former candidate for the City Council as “an it.”
In the recordings, Correia mocks Justice Gaines while reading an article that says Gaines may try to run for Council again.
Said Correia: “He's still working on developing his breasts and everything.” Asked by a staffer about what pronouns to use to refer to Gaines, Correia replied “An it. It.”
Gaines, whose pronouns are she/her, told WPRI: “I was hurt and upset and sad. To have a city councilman mocking or making light of my pronouns or what being transgender means, when there are people in his ward who he represents who he's supposed to be fighting for who are like me, who are trans women, who are nonbinary … that's upsetting. You don't refer to people as ‘it.'”
