At the request of a fan, the cast of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City led a pro-trans “Protect the Dolls” chant during a panel at this week’s reality television convention, BravoCon.
“Dolls” is considered a term of endearment for trans women, and the phrase “Protect the Dolls” has become a trans rights rallying cry.
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The chant came about after an interview in which cast member Bronwyn Newport called on more members of the Real Housewives franchise to speak out in support of LGBTQ+ rights.
“Nobody gets more gender-affirming care than the Housewives,” Newport told PRIDE, “so if your favorite Housewife is not standing up for the community, especially the trans community, you need to DM them… and push them to stand up for your rights, especially now.”
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At the BravoCon event, a fan brought up Newport’s words. “You did an interview, and you said you wish more of the housewives would use their platform to represent and talk about trans topics and issues,” they said. “If I could just get a couple of the girls to do a little protect the dolls chant I think that would be really helpful.”
Newport declared, “I think our cast is one of the very best about standing up for the community. I know everybody on here has done personal things, donations, volunteered, using their platform… We are doing a great job as a cast.”
The cast then joined together to chant, “Protect the dolls,” in the heartwarming moment.
@toofabnews The women of #RHOSLC lead #bravocon in a #protecthedolls chant
Fan question from @Austin Summers
Newport has long advocated for trans rights.
In 2024, she participated in a rally for trans youth outside the Supreme Court to advocate for the right to gender-affirming care as the justices heard oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti (which ultimately ended with the court ruling 6-3 along ideological lines hat a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors experiencing gender dysphoria does not violate the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause).
Ahead of the rally, Newport wrote on Instagram that she wanted to provide “support and to send a clear message that I feel these bans are cruel, unconstitutional, and must end.”
While at the rally, she spoke to the ACLU about her motivations for being there. “I love my daughter deeply, I love my stepkids deeply, and whatever care they need I would get for them, and so I just feel very compelled to be part of this rally here today outside the court to make sure that queer and trans youth are getting the gender-affirming and lifesaving care that they need.”
In her interview with PRIDE, Newport also spoke about her road to recently becoming a U.S. citizen (she was born in Brazil and her parents are from the U.K.) and expressed the need for more people to understand just how challenging the process is and why people can’t always “just do it the legal way.”
“The legal way is incredibly difficult. There are so many barriers. I have time and resources… If you are somebody who is working multiple jobs, doesn’t have a printer, doesn’t have money for an attorney, can’t just show up when they tell you ‘9 am this day for a meeting,’ it is incredibly difficult… It is a hard system to navigate.”
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