‘Jeopardy!’ host Ken Jennings calls out anti-trans ‘bigots’ and ‘cowards'

This story originally appeared on Them.Ken Jennings, who has hosted Jeopardy! since 2021 following the death of Alex Trebek, recently got into a relatively minor back-and-forth on Bluesky with people who claimed his subscriptions to the New York Times were supporting an anti-transgender media organization. And when I say minor, I mean this is fairly lukewarm water.The vast majority of media-literate trans people would likely agree that the Times’ coverage of our community has been framed and reported in such a biased way that ultra-conservative attorneys often cite it during attempts to roll back our rights. That’s clear to GLAAD, to those who have analyzed the paper’s coverage, and even to hundreds of Times contributors. But when it comes to the effectiveness of boycotting the entire media organization, or the ethics of still doing the crossword puzzle, I think you’d find opinions are more split. Would I subscribe to the New York Times? No. Would I unfriend someone who did? Not necessarily, because there is still good and important journalism being done there. Do I do the crossword puzzle? Yes, because nothing else quiets the anxiety I feel about living in our current reality quite like trying to find a five-letter word for boredom. Ah, “ennui,” my old friend.Regardless, various right-wing media latched onto Jennings’ comment this past weekend to paint him in a familiar fashion, as someone who shut down hysterical, overreacting trans activists. So naturally, Jennings, who is a longtime supporter of transgender rights, set the record straight.“I saw yesterday that some right-wing outlets were running stories about me, which I’m used to. But this time I’m going to say something about it, because these were framed to imply that I was aligned with their own transphobia,” Jennings wrote on August 2. “For the record: NOPE. Honestly, I don’t think there’s an issue today I care about on a personal level more deeply than trans rights. And it’s