David Letterman: Should he apologize for trans joke?

David Letterman is in trouble -- again. LGBT rights groups, including the Human Rights Campaign, are calling for the host to apologize for a joke he made a couple nights ago about Amanda Simpson, who was recently appointed by the Obama Administration as a Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Commerce. Simpson, a former test pilot, underwent a sex change operation about a decade ago.

Letterman noted the appointment in his monologue and a photo of Simpson was displayed. Announcer Alan Kalter, feigning horror, shouted, "What? Amanda? Amanda used to be a dude?" and ran off the stage.

"The decision to ignore the fact that Ms. Simpson is incredibly well-qualified for this vital national security position and focus instead on her gender identity reflects transphobia," wrote the Human Rights Campaign's Allyson Robinson. "Your skit affirmed and encouraged a prejudice against transgender Americans that keeps many from finding jobs, housing, and enjoying freedoms you and your writers take for granted every day."

Not all LGBTs are mad at Dave. A post on gay web site Queerty.com suggested that if activist groups are "willing to give Letterman a smidge of a pass, there's another way of taking this joke: By understanding the funny part is about Simpson being hot. Which — have you seen her? — she is. And that she's accomplished passing as a woman — the ultimate goal of so many transgender women. If Kalter was fantasizing about her (thus, his being so upset upon learning she was born a man), that means her transition was that good."