B. Scott, the transgender social media star, lost his long-time battle with BET this week when a judge threw out his lawsuit against the cable network for discrimination.
Scott had alleged that the network tried to censor his appearance when he was hosting red carpet coverage for their 2013 BET Awards last June.
“It’s not just about the fact that BET forced me to pull my hair back, asked me to take off my makeup, made me change my clothes and prevented me from wearing a heel,” Scott wrote on his website the day after the show.“It’s more so that from the mentality and environment created by BET made me feel less than and that something was wrong with who I am as a person.” Scott’s campaign against the channel has galvanized supporters of transgender rights and only raised his profile more.
Scott launched a high-profile lawsuit against the network and brought some much-needed attention to discrimination against the LGBT community in the process.
However, the courts did not see his case as valid. The judge found that BET was within in its 1st Amendment rights to require Scott to change his clothing to more traditional men’s dress.
Scott told the gossip site TMZ, “It disheartens me that the message sent today wasn’t a message of acceptance, but rather it’s acceptable to discriminate against transgender individuals on the basis of their gender identity and expression.”