Esquire Philippines apologizes for Jake Zyrus article deemed transphobic

Lifestyle magazine Esquire Philippines on Wednesday issued an apology for its article "Jake Zyrus and The Challenges of Personal Reinvention" after drawing flak on social media.

"Yesterday we published an article entitled Jake Zyrus and The Challenges of Personal Reinvention, where we made fun of the singer’s unique choice of name. We thought we were being a crass-but-supportive friend in the way we wanted to show our support while poking a little fun at Jake, but we totally drunk-uncled our way through it," the letter read, signed by editor-in-chief Kristine Fonacier.

The post promoting the controversial article on Facebook was flooded with criticism from individuals, LGBT and otherwise. People found the tone of the article mocking, citing several paragraphs that made fun of the name "Jake Zyrus."

"But while we stand in full support of Jake Zyrus’ decision, his new identity, and the right of every transgender person to identify with a name of his or her choosing, we can’t help but feel that Charice could have picked a better name than Jake Zyrus," the article read.

Users described the article as "transphobic" and pointed to its seemingly flippant reaction to the critical matter of transitioning and choosing a new name to go with one's true identity.

Fonacier noted that they failed to understand the gravity of Zyrus' decision and offered little excuse for their behavior.

"Honestly, this did not even occur to us, because we are blockheads and are just not as enlightened as we thought we were. It’s as simple as that," she declared. "[It] turns out that we have a long way to go in learning how to handle LGBTQ issues."

She continued, "Ultimately, it was a failure in empathy and sensitivity. We regret the article and, knowing that a lot of other people are critical of Jake’s name, urge everyone to be more thoughtful about the issue, and more careful when discussing it. This kind of lapse is easily made, especially when you consider yourself fairly liberal and progressive and accepting. It helps to remember what that really means, once in awhile."

After sharing some guidelines from the GLAAD Media Reference Guide for Covering The Transgender Community, Fonacier went on to say that the "snark" they had intended to be taken as humor was clearly harmful and cannot go hand-in-hand with supporting the rights of transgender people.

Esquire Philippines later added a note at the end of the first article stating it has apologized to Jake Zyrus, but the second article does not seem to include an apology to the singer himself. — Aya Tantiangco/BM/KVD, GMA News