Apologize All You Want, You’re Still a Dirt-Bag.*
People who don’t regularly use slurs in their private life don’t accidentally use them in public.
By Jeff Cann
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stepped into a big stinking pile of Donald Trump the other day. Like so many American politicians repeatedly do, Albanese showed his true colors when he became annoyed with political opponents who interrupted him. “Do you have Tourette’s or something? You know, you just sit there, babble, babble, babble.” He immediately followed up with “I withdraw and apologize.”
As an adult who lives with Tourette Syndrome, I don’t accept this apology. Albanese used my condition as an insult, a way to demean his enemies. I’m not sure if he was going for laughs, but he got them — equally appalling considering the venue was Australia’s parliament. Tourette Syndrome is still viewed as a joke, a punchline.
I don’t interrupt people with uncontrollable vocalizations. Instead, I crush my eyelids together. When I’m alone, I grunt so pervasively I need to catch my breath. I scratch my skin until I bleed. I lick my lips, wipe them dry with my hand and then lick them again. And again. I make strange torquing movements with my torso. My level of self-disgust ranges between moderate and…
