Call Me Caitlyn Costume
A screenshot of the "Call Me Caitlyn" costume from Anytimecostumes.com. Anytimecostumes.com

Talking about Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair cover is one thing; imitating her is another -- especially if you're a guy. Spirit Halloween found this out the hard way after it was revealed the company has planned to release a Caitlyn Jenner costume.

"Caitlyn Jenner has proved to be the most important real-life superhero of the year, and Spirit Halloween is proud to carry the costume that celebrates her," Trisha Lombardo, Spirit Halloween's PR and marketing head, told the New York Daily News in defending the decision.

The news has led to outrage on social media and a Change.org petition calling for Spirit Halloween to cancel the costume. "To make a costume out of a marginalized identity reduces that person and community to a stereotype for privileged people to abuse. In this case, if you follow through with production of a Caitlyn Jenner costume, cisgender people will purchase it to make fun of her and our community," activist Addison Rose Vincent wrote.

Tranny Granny Description
A "Tranny Granny" costume. Spirit Halloween Screenshot

Vincent's concerns may be justified based on how a competitor is portraying its Jenner cover costume. Anytimecostumes.com has a "Call Me Caitlyn" costume modeled by a hairy, tattooed dude. More directly, Spirit Halloween has two transphobic costumes featured on its website. A description for one costume reads "Tranny Granny Mens Costume" -- although the description reads "Granny Mens Costume" if you click on it. That term has a long history in the LGBTQ community as a slur, and J. Bryan Lowder has an excellent rundown of its history and the current debate around the word. There's also a "Gropin Granny" costume that features a very male NSFW surprise.

"These words dehumanize transgender people and should not be used in mainstream media. The criteria for using these derogatory terms should be the same as those applied to vulgar epithets used to target other groups: They should not be used except in a direct quote that reveals the bias of the person quoted," reads GLAAD's media guidelines regarding the word.

If you want to just truly tasteless, there's a Cecil the Lion Killer costume, TMZ reported. Dr. Walter Palmer was identified as the lion's killer and the offering from Costumeish.com comes complete with a bloody dentist smock and a severed lion head.