Did anyone know we were supposed to think this was a guy?
THE TIGER KING STAR YOU DIDN’T KNOW WAS TRANSGENDER
It certainly has some LGBTQ aspects; Joe Exotic, the Oklahoma big-cat keeper and showmen at the center of this whole wacky thing, is at the center of a polyamorous gay throuple whose tripartite marriage is one of the many memorable incidents in the show. But there’s another pretty important LGBTQ-related fact about the show that neither the show itself nor most of the coverage around it will make clear to you, and that’s that
Saff Saffery is actually a transgender man.
Saffery, who like many of the characters on Tiger King, is wildly colorful and entertaining, is most notable due to having lost his hand and forearm to one of Joe Exotic’s tigers. While this was certainly a traumatic experience, he returned to work less than a week later, and never blamed the tiger, instead blaming himself for being “complacent,” according to a YouTube interview he gave to comedian David Spade last week.
Referred to by his deadname and by female pronouns throughout the show, Saffery has nonetheless repeatedly stated his correct pronouns and what name he prefers to be called. This fact was publicized on Twitter by Robert Moor, who created Joe Exotic: Tiger King, a multi-part podcast for the Wondery podcast network. In the midst of a long Twitter thread of “Tiger King trivia,” he wrote, ” (Not really “trivia,” but a useful piece of info for anyone discussing the show):
Saff, the person who got mauled by the tiger, told me repeatedly that he is trans, prefers to be called Saff (not “Kelci”), and uses he/him pronouns. So please do likewise.”
https://rvamag.com/gay-rva/the-tiger...ansgender.html