Bill Maher's opinion on Trans kids

[Jules]

Well I've saved him to my faves on youtube... we used to be able to say things like that publicly.. the woke brigade have robbed us of free speech.

He also has a podcast, Club Random. Not sure if you can get it there.

 

[Em in Ohio]

Well I've saved him to my faves on youtube... we used to be able to say things like that publicly.. the woke brigade have robbed us of free speech.

? Please explain.

The woke brigade are people who have woken up to the brokenness, injustice, and corruption of racist, violent... bullying America at home and in the world.

I have been awake to these things as long as I can remember! I don't see how this affects free speech.

 

[hollydolly]

Well I'm very happy this wasn't a thing when I was a kid. I was a boy in all but name. I was dressed in jeans, most of the time, except school uniform in a skirt which I hated.. couldn't wait to get back home and into my jeans...and go and play outside with my brother and his friends.. climbing trees, riding bikes, playing marbles, hiking on trains.. loved it all... and if anyone had asked me at 10 years old if I wanted to be a boy I would have Shouted YES from the rooftops.. because at that age I would have no idea what the ramifications would be if I'd been allowed to take hormones, and become a boy by the time got into my teens.. just beyond belief that anyone can take a child seriously about this type of thing. There should be a law against it until they're of adult age .

 

[hollydolly]

? Please explain.

The woke brigade are people who have woken up to the brokenness, injustice, and corruption of racist, violent and bullying America at home and in the world.

I have been awake to these things as long as I can remember! I don't see how this affects free speech.

because we're not allowed to speak our minds here, not one bit or risk being arrested...all due to those who choose to take offence at the slightest thing, and those in power who pander to them

 

[helenbacque]

When I was young - back in the stone age - many girls went through what was called a 'tom boy' phase but it didn't mean they wanted to BE boys, just be allowed to dress and play like one.

 

[hollydolly]

When I was young - back in the stone age - many girls went through what was called a 'tom boy' phase but it didn't mean they wanted to BE boys, just be allowed to play like one.

Exactly and I'm sure if we'd been subject to all the online and media saying it's our right to change sex, there would be a great deal of us out here in a body that isn't right for us...

 

[StarSong]

I'm generally against permanent changes being made to one's body before the age of 18, at minimum. Extreme cases, as determined by the person and his/her parents (or a judge), doctors, and a mental health specialist, would be notable exceptions.

That said, there are many preschoolers who signal strong discomfort with traditional gender "norms" being applied to them and they never "grow out of it." I remember kids like that when I was in school but didn't understand what was happening with them - I just knew something was different about them. Sometimes a (closeted) gay teacher took them under his/her wing, showing the kids a level of acceptance not otherwise available. Bless those teachers for their courage and compassion.

As an adult I easily recognized the patterns in some of my children's friends and classmates (most of whom eventually came out, though a couple remain in denial even in their 30s). I'm referring to kids who are clearly uncomfortable with their birth assigned gender or expected sexuality, not typical tomboy girls, or boys who aren't athletically inclined.

Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and other liberal American cities are awash with destitute young runaways who've been rejected by families and hometowns because they're LGBTQ+. So tragic.

 

[Medusa]

"They" is a plural pronoun. Unless a trans person has morphed into several people, it makes no sense at all and confuses the language to the point where it's impossible to have a sane conversation about someone (someones?) without using singular pronouns.

Example: "My neighbor's daughter just graduated from college. The neighbor is very proud of them. They are coming to visit her next week. They are staying in her guest room. No, her guest room is only big enough for one person. Why do you ask?"

If "he" and "she" are so offensive, and we are supposed to be engaged in an effort to wipe out any concept of binary genders, making everyone some neutral "thing," then a new pronoun has to be invented. "It" comes across as insulting, so the pronoun would have to be something else.

Yes, I know how language works. "They" is the pronoun currently in use because, as you noted, another hasn't been invented. So what?

I'm not aware of anyone who wants to make, "everyone some neutral "thing.'"

This is the last I'll say on this subject as we've been over this type of thing before on this forum and I've let myself get caught up in pointless, circular discussions, like this (of little import in the grand scheme). - I'm not going there again.

 

[Della]

NPR had a guest today, talking about this very thing. I listened carefully, hoping she would answer some of my questions, but instead she, a doctor who specialized in transitioning for children, just talked about how wrong it would be to stop early transitioning and we heard one of her patient's parents say that she thought her child would "not live" if a law that prevented her transition went through.

I'm a long time NPR listener but in the past few years they seem to have given up balanced reporting that presents both sides of issues, in favor of pleasing their liberal audience. Well I'm one of those liberals, but I'm frustrated with shows like today's where I learn absolutely nothing. Bill Maher is one of the few commentators who will choose common sense over left/right agenda.

Back to the subject at hand. My heart goes out to the children who definitely are "born in the wrong body" and must live through years of confusion and grief. If they want to wear the other gender's clothing, take ballet, or play baseball, by all means they should be allowed, but I do think surgery should wait until adulthood because it is so irreversible.

As for teaching very young children all about alternative genders and sexual orientations. Please no. I think that sort of information raises worries about themselves long before they need to arrive.

 

[Lavinia]

because we're not allowed to speak our minds here, not one bit or risk being arrested...all due to those who choose to take offence at the slightest thing, and those in power who pander to them

This is why it's so vital to support those who do have the courage to speak out.

 

[Sunny]

OK, here's Bill Maher's pirate joke for those who haven't watched the video:

"When I was a child, I wanted to be a pirate! Thank God my parents didn't have one of my eyes removed, and sign me up for peg leg surgery!"

 

[Shalimar]

For me, it comes down to this. Five times during the last few years, I have sat in my office, vainly trying to comfort families whose children committed suicide because of gender issues. Our children are dying. Some of them preteen. For some, “dressing the part” is not enough. It only serves to widen the gap between appearance and internal reality. Our children are dying. if hormones save lives, so be it.

 

[Geezer Garage]

Bill Maher can definitely be funny, and I used to watch him often, and still do, but I find him more often disingenuous, and going for the low hanging fruit. Not sure if it's him or me that has changed, probably both.

 

[Shalimar]

Personally, I can’t get past Mayer’s Islamophobic remarks. They taint his credibility.

 

[Pepper]

One third of the population, no. In my view 10% and your opinion on trans people is outrageous! If you're not kidding you ought to be @Lawrence

 

[Medusa]

For me, it comes down to this. Five times during the last few years, I have sat in my office, vainly trying to comfort families whose children committed suicide because of gender issues. Our children are dying. Some of them preteen. For some, “dressing the part” is not enough. It only serves to widen the gap between appearance and internal reality. Our children are dying. if hormones save lives, so be it.

I don't know what to say to this except that it's horrifying and unimaginable and that perhaps we don't know enough about this yet and need to keep learning and trying.

 

[Medusa]

Personally, I can’t get past Mayer’s Islamophobic remarks. They taint his credibility.

I'm not familiar with his work, but he's not looking great from this particular view.

 

[Don M.]

Back when I was growing up...in the 40's and 50's, I don't remember any "Gender" issues. I remember playing with dolls with my Sister, and I remember her joining some of us guys as we played in the dirt and mud. In recent years, all this gender/bi-sexual, etc., stuff seems to be messing with a lot of young kids....and their parents...minds. I'm sure that these issues have been around forever, but seem to be coming to the forefront more and more.
I don't really care what people do with their lives....so long as some "dude" doesn't rush up and try to give me a kiss. However, I think that these hormone treatments and surgeries, etc., on younger kids creates more problems for them than it solves.

 

[Sunny]

I watch him every week, and I've never heard any remarks that indicate he is Islamophobic. Some of his guests in the panel discussion have been Muslim.

However, he is generally antireligious. He even made a movie sharply criticizing all organized religions, called Religiolus. He spared nothing and no one, and was pretty harshly satirical. He seems to target right-wing Christianity more than any other religion. He was raised in his father's Catholic religion, and didn't discover until his teens that his mother was Jewish. Must be an interesting story there!

Here's part of the Wikipedia article about him:



Maher and Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA. Maher is on the board of directors of the animal rights group.
Maher often eschews political labels, referring to himself as "practical".[61] He identifies as liberal and stands against political correctness. In his words, "The difference is that liberals protect people, and P.C. people protect feelings."[62] In the past, he has also described himself as a libertarian, and has also referred to himself "as a progressive, as a sane person".[63][64] In a 2012 panel discussion with Salman Rushdie, Maher counted himself, Rushdie, and others such as Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris as "9/11 liberals", noting that they differentiate themselves from many mainstream liberals in saying that not all religions are alike and that they are not bigoted in criticizing a particular religion.[65] He said in a later interview: "It's ridiculous to label criticism of a religion as a phobia of a religion. I'm going to criticize any person or group that violates liberal principles...."[62]

Maher favors the ending of corporate welfare and federal funding of non-profits, as well as the legalization of gambling, prostitution, and cannabis. Maher is a member of the advisory boards for both the NORML and Marijuana Policy Project, organizations that support regulated legalization of cannabis,[66][67] and has been called "one of the brightest torches for sensible marijuana policy" and "a contemporary cannabis statesman".[68]

Maher describes himself as an environmentalist, and he has spoken in favor of the Kyoto treaty on global warming on his show Real Time. He often criticizes industry figures involved in environmental pollution.[69] He is a board member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.[6] The comedian has noted the paradox of people claiming they distrusted "elite" politicians while at the same time wanting elite doctors to treat them and elite lawyers to represent them in court.[70]

Since the 9/11 attacks, he has endorsed certain uses of profiling at airports, saying that "Places like Israel, where they have faced terrorism for a long time, of course understand that profiling is part of all detective work. It's part of all police work. If they stop calling it profiling and start calling it high-intelligence screening or something, people would go, it's about time."[71] He opposed the Iraq War from the beginning and has summarized his opinion by saying that the United States and the world have had to pay too high a price for the war. He is skeptical of Iraq surviving without civil war.[72]


Maher with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA)
In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Maher announced his support for U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).[73] Although Maher welcomed Obama's electoral victory, he subjected him to criticism after he took office for not acting more boldly on health care reform and other progressive issues.[74] On February 23, 2012, after his "Crazy Stupid Politics" special streamed on Yahoo! Screen, Maher announced that he was contributing $1 million to Priorities USA, the Obama SuperPAC.[75][76]

On the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Maher says he is "more on the side of the Israelis" and doesn't consider both sides equally guilty. He acknowledges that "Palestinians do have gripes", and he has been critical of U.S. financial aid to Israel, saying "they don't need our money, they can handle it themselves." Maher also notes that most Israelis would prefer a two-state solution and oppose the hard-line stance of their Israeli government, which he describes as having been taken over by their version of the Tea Party. However, Maher has defended Israel's military actions against Palestinian militants amid criticism over civilian deaths and disproportionate casualty count between Israelis and Palestinians during the 2014 Gaza war. He argues that Israel is still showing restraint, and he finds it ironic that the same people who were incredulous over how the Jews in World War II were led "to their slaughter", can't understand why they are defending themselves now.[77][78]

Maher is a gun owner, and explained in his February 12, 2013, appearance on the late-night TV talk show Conan that he owns guns for personal home protection. However, he does not identify himself as a "proud" gun owner, commenting that being a proud gun owner is akin to "saying I'm a 'proud remote control owner'". Maher has stated that statistics showing that gun owners are more likely to harm a member of their household are caused by irresponsible gun owners, and believes that tragedies such as school shootings will not lead to a fundamental change in gun laws because both Democrats and Republicans favor guns.[79] He believes the Second Amendment is "bullshit".[80][81]

 

[Jules]

Maher describes himself as an environmentalist,

…but he flies in private planes. Some of his opinions seemed based on what’s good for himself.

He’s interesting and intelligent and that doesn’t necessarily mean that I agree with lots of what he says.

 

[Nathan]

I watch him every week, and I've never heard any remarks that indicate he is Islamophobic. Some of his guests in the panel discussion have been Muslim.

However, he is generally antireligious. He even made a movie sharply criticizing all organized religions, called Religiolus. He spared nothing and no one, and was pretty harshly satirical. He seems to target right-wing Christianity more than any other religion. He was raised in his father's Catholic religion, and didn't discover until his teens that his mother was Jewish. Must be an interesting story there!

Here's part of the Wikipedia article about him:


Maher and Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA. Maher is on the board of directors of the animal rights group.
Maher often eschews political labels, referring to himself as "practical".[61] He identifies as liberal and stands against political correctness. In his words, "The difference is that liberals protect people, and P.C. people protect feelings."[62] In the past, he has also described himself as a libertarian, and has also referred to himself "as a progressive, as a sane person".[63][64] In a 2012 panel discussion with Salman Rushdie, Maher counted himself, Rushdie, and others such as Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris as "9/11 liberals", noting that they differentiate themselves from many mainstream liberals in saying that not all religions are alike and that they are not bigoted in criticizing a particular religion.[65] He said in a later interview: "It's ridiculous to label criticism of a religion as a phobia of a religion. I'm going to criticize any person or group that violates liberal principles...."[62]

Maher favors the ending of corporate welfare and federal funding of non-profits, as well as the legalization of gambling, prostitution, and cannabis. Maher is a member of the advisory boards for both the NORML and Marijuana Policy Project, organizations that support regulated legalization of cannabis,[66][67] and has been called "one of the brightest torches for sensible marijuana policy" and "a contemporary cannabis statesman".[68]

Maher describes himself as an environmentalist, and he has spoken in favor of the Kyoto treaty on global warming on his show Real Time. He often criticizes industry figures involved in environmental pollution.[69] He is a board member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.[6] The comedian has noted the paradox of people claiming they distrusted "elite" politicians while at the same time wanting elite doctors to treat them and elite lawyers to represent them in court.[70]

Since the 9/11 attacks, he has endorsed certain uses of profiling at airports, saying that "Places like Israel, where they have faced terrorism for a long time, of course understand that profiling is part of all detective work. It's part of all police work. If they stop calling it profiling and start calling it high-intelligence screening or something, people would go, it's about time."[71] He opposed the Iraq War from the beginning and has summarized his opinion by saying that the United States and the world have had to pay too high a price for the war. He is skeptical of Iraq surviving without civil war.[72]


Maher with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA)
In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Maher announced his support for U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).[73] Although Maher welcomed Obama's electoral victory, he subjected him to criticism after he took office for not acting more boldly on health care reform and other progressive issues.[74] On February 23, 2012, after his "Crazy Stupid Politics" special streamed on Yahoo! Screen, Maher announced that he was contributing $1 million to Priorities USA, the Obama SuperPAC.[75][76]

On the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Maher says he is "more on the side of the Israelis" and doesn't consider both sides equally guilty. He acknowledges that "Palestinians do have gripes", and he has been critical of U.S. financial aid to Israel, saying "they don't need our money, they can handle it themselves." Maher also notes that most Israelis would prefer a two-state solution and oppose the hard-line stance of their Israeli government, which he describes as having been taken over by their version of the Tea Party. However, Maher has defended Israel's military actions against Palestinian militants amid criticism over civilian deaths and disproportionate casualty count between Israelis and Palestinians during the 2014 Gaza war. He argues that Israel is still showing restraint, and he finds it ironic that the same people who were incredulous over how the Jews in World War II were led "to their slaughter", can't understand why they are defending themselves now.[77][78]

Maher is a gun owner, and explained in his February 12, 2013, appearance on the late-night TV talk show Conan that he owns guns for personal home protection. However, he does not identify himself as a "proud" gun owner, commenting that being a proud gun owner is akin to "saying I'm a 'proud remote control owner'". Maher has stated that statistics showing that gun owners are more likely to harm a member of their household are caused by irresponsible gun owners, and believes that tragedies such as school shootings will not lead to a fundamental change in gun laws because both Democrats and Republicans favor guns.[79] He believes the Second Amendment is "bullshit".[80][81]

@Sunny, thanks for the article on Bill Maher. I find that I'm 90-something percent on the same page as he. Perhaps a bit politically schizophrenic(my apologies for using an archaic, derogatory term) but I can live with being able to see multiple sides to a given issue.

 

[Alligatorob]

I'm generally against permanent changes being made to one's body before the age of 18, at minimum.

Does that include tattoos? I think it probably should.

Our children are dying. if hormones save lives, so be it.

I had not heard this, if it is true I would probably rethink my position. The more we talk about this the harder it gets...

I've let myself get caught up in pointless, circular discussions, like this (of little import in the grand scheme). - I'm not going there again.

Hey, that is something we are good at! I have probably contributed too much...

 

[dseag2]

Since I started the thread, I will be the first to admit that Bill Maher can come off as arrogant and abrasive. My partner can't watch him. But I find his ability to cut through the BS that is happening in the world in a funny and sarcastic way to be brilliant. I also learn something every time I watch his show. Same with John Oliver, who is another of my favorites.

I almost fell out of my chair this week when Donna Brazile told Bill Maher she had been up all night preparing. He asked her for what and she said "your b*ll s**t."

 

[SeaBreeze]

I'm a gay man, but I agree with this. I felt very feminine when I was very young, but I am so happy I am still a man now. I am so happy my parents in the 60's didn't support this or have access to hormones that supressed my masculinity. I am not against Trans people, just the parents who support this prior to adulthood.

I like Bill Maher, he's a smart guy and I watched the video. What he's saying does make sense and I tend to agree with him also. I am not gay and never had those feelings, but as a kid I really wasn't very girlie, I didn't like dolls, was actually afraid of some of them. My parents took me to a Santa Claus once and I thought he was pretty creepy and I felt uncomfortable just because of that. He handed me a little baby doll, looked kind of like the old fashioned ceramic skin types with the weird eyeballs, I burst out crying and wanted to get away. My mom rescued me, so much for that fun childhood experience, lol. I often played with my older brother and his stuff, cap guns, bow and arrow, trucks, etc. These days people would probably have questioned my sexuality.

I've had close gay friends over the years, both male and female, and they were wonderful people, I was blessed to have them in my life. I have never been acquainted with a trans person, but I have nothing against them, I just hope they are happy and content with their choices in life and I wish them safety in this insane world of ours. But it is reasonable to not take any action in transitioning with a young child who has not matured enough to really know their own mind and body, their wants and needs. So parents playing around with hormones at a young age sounds like it can be very dangerous and cause the child a lot of unnecessary emotional issues. I don't know much about this subject, but I know there are too many kids who are bullied and suicidal these days, and this is just one more thing that may unfortunately contribute to that.

 

[oldman]

Oh, Brother!