![\"Survivor](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/probst.jpeg?resize=740%2C381\")
<\/p>\n\u2018Survivor\u2019 Contestant Outs Fellow Contestant as Transgender at Tribal Council: WATCH [SPOILERS]<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
SPOILERS<\/em><\/p>\n Things got personal, and upsetting,\u00a0at Tribal Council on last night\u2019s Survivor: Game Changers<\/em> when one player, who was under fire, outed another as transgender, not just to his fellow players, but to millions of viewers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy haven\u2019t you told everyone you\u2019re transgender,\u201d said Jeff Varner to Zeke Smith. \u201cWhat I\u2019m showing is a deception.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s personal!\u201d, the other players protested, some in tears.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s dirty Jeff,\u201d said\u00a0one.<\/p>\n Replied\u00a0Varner: \u201cI argue for the rights of transgender people every day in the state of North Carolina. I would never say or do anything to hurt anyone here!\u201d<\/p>\n When Varner became upset and realized what he\u2019d done, host Jeff Probst asked: Is it starting to hit you the gravity, that you didn\u2019t just tell six people? You told millions of people! Is that what\u2019s happening? You\u2019re realizing now that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Said Varner: \u201cJeff I assumed that everyone in his world knew, so that\u2019s my ignorance. I thought he was just deceiving these people. It never dawned on me that no one knew.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Smith penned a lengthy response to his outing for The Hollywood Reporter <\/a>about being trans<\/a>, applying to be on the show, and how he feels about Varner:<\/p>\n I looked to Varner, now the one hunched and quivering, and contemplated the backlash he would face. When he said what he said, he changed both of our lives forever. When he pulled me in for a hug, I felt compelled to reciprocate, both as a sign that I was willing to forgive him and that the shots he had fired missed.<\/p>\n But, if we\u2019re being perfectly honest with one another, I\u2019ve struggled with that forgiveness in the months following. I can\u2019t foresee us sipping martinis together in Fire Island. While I can reconcile the personal slight of him outing me, I continue to be troubled by his willingness to deploy such a dangerous stereotype on a global platform.<\/p>\n But forgiveness does not require friendship. Forgiveness does not require forgetting or excusing his actions. Forgiveness requires hope. Hope that he understands the injury he caused and does not inflict it upon others. Hope that whatever torments his soul will plague him no more. I have hope for Jeff Varner. I just choose to hope from afar, thank you very much.<\/p>\n The post \u2018Survivor\u2019 Contestant Outs Fellow Contestant as Transgender at Tribal Council: WATCH [SPOILERS]<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n