PSA: Transphobic Halloween costumes like this one are a dangerous mistake you should avoid making

At some point within the past few hours, Walmart decided to post (and subsequently pull down) a listing for one “Tranny Granny Costume” for men. The costume consisted of a polka dotted dress, butt pads, fake breasts, and a matching bonnet.

As the costume’s name suggests, the “character” a person who wears it is supposed to be playing is a stereotypical caricature of an elderly transwoman, because mocking someone’s gender expression is the highest form of comedy known to man.

The original posting that appeared on Walmart’s website was actually from a third-party seller whose items merely popped up in Walmart’s search results. While Walmart has (thankfully) pulled the listing from its website, the costume is easily findable with a quick Google search that reveals it’s still available for sale through Spirit Halloween, the same retailer that tried to justify its equally offensive Caitlin Jenner costume last year.

The official description of the costume is just as sophomoric and small-minded about gender as you might imagine. It sets up a scenario in which a man, lamenting the fact that all his friends are dressing up as superheroes and princesses, comes to the conclusion that a transphobic costume is the solution to his problems.

“This granny wouldn’t go anywhere without her pink babushka with flower design headband to keep her hair perfectly in place,” the packaging describes. “Slap on some makeup and get ready for your granny walk and you will have the room roaring with laughter!”

Here’s the thing about “funny” Halloween costumes like this: they’re offensive and dangerous.

Costumes like this feed into the idea that transgender people are merely folks who’ve decided to wear clothing not traditionally associated with their birth sex, that they are performing gender incorrectly, and that said performance is something to laugh and point at. It’s specifically that kind of dehumanizing thinking that has lead to trans women (of color) being one of the most at risk populations in the country for becoming the victims of fatal hate crimes.

Rather than feeding into the negative cycle that turns mockery of trans lives into violence against trans lives, do the smart thing and opt for one of the countless other costumes sure to be a huge hit this Halloween.