Update: Friday Night Lights creator Peter Berg has apologized for sharing a transphobic meme on Instagram yesterday that directly targeted Caitlyn Jenner. "I have the utmost respect for Caitlyn Jenner and I am a strong supporter of equality and the rights of trans people everywhere," he captioned his latest post, which features an image of an American flag overlaid with text reading: "4,334 veterans have died by suicide this year, the VA estimates that 22 veterans die by suicide every day."
That's not all Berg had to say. "I also believe that we don't give enough attention to our courageous returning war veterans, many of whom have sacrificed their bodies and mental health for our country and our principals," he wrote, "principals that include the freedom to live the life you want to live without persecution or abuse."
It seems as though Peter Berg has been chastened by the backlash and has hopefully realized his error: It's possible to support two communities at the same time without diminishing the value of one at the expense of the other, and this apology makes that very clear.
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This story was originally published on June 16, 2015. Quick recap: Caitlyn Jenner gave an incredibly moving speech last night at the ESPY Awards. Celebs and supporters around the world sent heartwarming messages to the former Olympian and transgender activist. But along with the outpouring of support came negative insults, and sadly some people took Jenner's appearance at the ceremony as an opportunity to reject her transition in a very public way. One of those naysayers was Peter Berg, the creator of Friday Night Lights. Berg disparaged Jenner and the broader trans community by sharing an image on Instagram of a war vet next to a picture of the I Am Cait star. The text on the image itself reads, "One Man traded 2 legs for the freedom of the other to trade 2 balls for 2 boobs. Guess which Man made the cover of Vanity Fair, was praised for his courage by President Obama and is to be honored with the 'Arthur Ashe Courage Award' by ESPN?" Berg captioned the post with one word: "Yup." So far, Berg's post has garnered a paltry few thousand likes and some exceptionally bigoted comments. But the backlash against him has been swift and severe, both in the media and through comments on the post itself. "What he is saying is discriminatory and hurtful," reads one. "I'm not going to support that. This meme is hurtful and there are [many] appropriate ways of conveying your opinion without trying to hurt others." "Truly disgusted by your ignorance," wrote another user. "Courage comes in many forms. One should not diminish the other." Truer words have never been posted.