Zeke Smith has unintentionally become the first publicly known transgender contestant on the reality TV series Survivor.
On Wednesday, April 12, the CBS show aired an episode in which Smith’s fellow competitor, Jeff Varner, outed Smith as a transgender.
On the episode, Varner said to Smith, “There is deception here. Deceptions on levels that these guys don’t even understand. Why haven’t you told anyone that you’re transgender?”
Varner’s comments struck immediate outrage from the public and other players. Varner was unanimously sent home by his tribe.
In an exclusive column for The Hollywood Reporter Smith commented that “A person’s gender history is private information and it is up to them, and only them, when, how, and to whom they choose to disclose that information. Keeping your gender history private is not the same as a gay person being ‘in the closet’. The only people who need to know are medical professionals and naked fun time friends.”