A nurse has been placed on administrative leave after she allegedly went on a transphobic and homophobic rant about the removal of the ‘female’ symbol on the packaging of Always sanitary products.
Cindy Carter, who works at a Cincinnati hospital, is said to have written derogatory statements about gay men and transgender people on social media following Proctor & Gamble’s decision to remove the Venus symbol from its products.
The nurse expressed her disapproval of the decision, which the company says is an attempt to be more inclusive of their trans and non-binary customers, by claiming trans people didn’t exist and stating: ‘you’re either male or female’.
Before her alleged comments went viral and she was placed on administrative leave, Carter worked as an ER nurse for TriHealth at the Bethesda Butler Hospital in Hamilton, Ohio, the New York Daily News reports.
Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach shared the rant on Twitter, encouraging his followers to boycott the organisation the nurse worked for and encouraging TriHealth to terminate her employment.
The rant, which was published on Facebook by someone named Cindy Carter, read:
F*ck Always. This country has gone to complete sh*t. Women have periods, men don’t. Why do certain applications ask for LEGAL SEX… you’re either male or female.
There’s no f*cking in between. Jesus people – get your heads on straight. Grab a mirror – it’s easy. You either have a dick or you don’t.
After another person’s comment appeared to encourage her, stating ‘lol get em’, Carter’s account goes on to use extremely homophobic language before stating: ‘Men need to be men. Women need to be women’.
Councilman Seelbach said, as an LGBTQ+ person, he would no longer ‘feel comfortable’ using TriHealth’s services until he was confident Carter ‘would never treat’ him. After his tweet, the hospital announced it would investigate the allegations.
As per the Cincinnati Enquirer, a spokesperson for the hospital said:
We take allegations of this nature very seriously and began an internal investigation into the matter on Friday. The nurse has been placed on administrative leave for her safety and the safety of our patients while the investigation continues.
We are committed to bringing this issue to a swift close and will provide an update when the investigation is complete.
On Tuesday, October 29, Seelbach praised the hospital’s decision on Twitter, calling it a ‘good first step’. Seelbach, who is Cincinnati’s first openly gay councilman, added: ‘No one who thinks I am a “f*cking c*ck sucking h*mo” and that transgender people don’t exist should be treating patients’.
Carter later claimed her account had been hacked.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues, and want to speak to someone in confidence contact Mindline Trans+ on 0300 330 5468. The line is open Mondays and Fridays, 8 pm to midnight and is run by trans volunteers.
A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).