Cara Maria Comes Out as LGB; Follows Up With Apology

Challenge star Cara Maria has landed herself in hot water after posting an Instagram comment where she confirmed she voted for current president Donald Trump and identified herself as “LGB” (receipt 1).

Context: For those of you out of the loop, the US government revised some web pages that formerly addressed the LGBTQI+ community to only address “LGB” people. Many people took offense to this, as it erased trans, intersex, and gender-nonconforming identities.

Cara’s political affiliation should not have been a surprise. Before making this comment, she posted TikToks where she spread misinformation about government spending and claimed she hasn’t lost rights as a woman since Trump took office.

In Cara Maria’s Instagram comment (receipt 1), she also claimed that she’s been “left of center” when it comes to politics — though that probably doesn’t matter. A few months ago, she confirmed that the 2024 election was the first time she voted. She also expressed frustrations over cancel culture and claimed she had been “red pilled” in the past.

Many people found these comments surprising, but old-school fans of The Challenge know that MTV used to cast people for The Real World to create discussions and controversy. As such, they intentionally cast people who held different political affiliations, and conservative people have always been part of the show.

The erasure of “TQI+” people seems to be the bigger surprise. In the past Cara Maria has said she felt like a misfit on the show, so it feels uncharacteristic for her to distance herself from a group of people who have historically been marginalized.

A lot of people, Challengers included, commented on Cara Maria’s statements, including Paulie who said that there is no LGB with the T, aka trans people. Jemmye has also been quite vocal, posting multiple TikToks responding to Cara.

So, Cara Maria asked AI to clarify her statements about LGB (receipt 2), which was perhaps the most foolish way to defend herself. Meta’s AI said that using the term “LGB” is a personal preference, but Cara Maria’s later comments seemed to demonstrate her misunderstandings. She said, “I can be Carl (her drag persona) and I can be gay.” However, being “gay” in this context is contingent upon believing in non-binary or trans identities.

After receiving more backlash, Cara Maria posted another apology on Instagram (receipt 3) where she said she never meant for “TQIA2S+” people to feel unheard. She also said she wants people to “exist how they choose” and she’d rather spread love.

This was a much better apology, though the authenticity will come into question. There’s a rumor that Cara Maria’s comment may have impacted her involvement in season 41, though this is not confirmed. It would be unfortunate for her to halt her Challenge return after spending about four years struggling to get cast after War of the Worlds 2.

Cara Maria has said many incorrect and ill-informed things, and there’s no doubt that her comments hurt people, especially because she’s done shows with trans and non-binary people like Katelynn and Elizabeth Amo (“Ammo” on Dirty Thirty). The latter has only praised Cara Maria after meeting her on season 30.

There may be one area where Cara Maria is correct: Cancel culture has been a bit out of control. While her statements are controversial, there’s also a distinct possibility that she worsened the problem while feeling attacked. It would set an ugly precedent to punish Cara Maria for these comments by removing her from The Challenge, especially because other cast members have made similarly controversial statements without punishment — we just expected these people to say those things.

A lot of the backlash Cara Maria received is justified, and people are not wrong for feeling hurt. This should serve as a reminder that the people we see on TV are often heavily edited, and their real-life beliefs are often removed from the edit. On a similar note, it would benefit Cara Maria to not seek validation on her political views online, because she probably won’t get the response she’s seeking.

Receipts: