In a recent episode of the "Pod Saves America" podcast, "Real Time" host Bill Maher engaged in a heated debate with former Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett over the Democratic party's stance on gender transition treatments for minors.
The conversation centered on the controversial issue of whether schools should have the right to withhold information about a child's gender transition from their parents, a position Maher described as a "woke outlier" that could potentially alienate the average voter.
"According to Fox News, Maher stated, "The Democratic position in [California] has been that the school has the right to hide it from the parents. That is not something thats going to go well with the average voter."
He further criticized the left's intolerance for debate on the subject, warning, "And the fact that you think, or a lot of people on the left think, that even if you just have this debate, it makes you a bigot, you just have to roll overthat was their position. If you even question this, you're some sort of a bigot. And this is new science. And it has to do with children. And it's not going to look good in the future, that position."
Lovett countered Maher's argument by drawing a parallel between the current situation and past accusations of gay individuals "grooming" young boys. He insisted that gender transition treatments should not be dismissed due to a small number of individuals who might later regret their decision. "But they're also really important surgeries that people get for their heart. And they go wrong and somebody dies and nobody says, we must stop the cardiologists. No one says we must stop the surgeons," Lovett argued.
Maher, however, was not convinced by Lovett's analogy. He also questioned Lovett's assertion that "study after study" has demonstrated the benefits of gender transition treatments. Maher referred to a 2024 report revealing that a study on the effects of puberty blockers on children's mental health was withheld from publication due to fears it would be "weaponized" by critics. "So in other words, it came out not the way you wanted the study to come out, not what you said, that Oh, all the studies show that. No, it is a mixed bag," Maher retorted.
The debate escalated as Lovett argued that there are instances when parents should be excluded from decisions regarding their child's gender transition treatments. "Look, we all believe that parents should have the decisions over their children, but we also recognize that some parents do such a bad f---ing job that the kids are in danger," Lovett said. He also dismissed the notion that schools should keep such information secret from parents as a baseline.
Maher, however, disagreed, stating, "Apparently that's not true. People do think that. And there is no perfect answer to this. It's as many knotty questions, the least bad answer" He was interrupted by Lovett, who argued against government intervention in such personal matters. Lovett asked, "You want the government to ban gender affirming care for kids?"
Maher responded by warning of the potential political consequences of prioritizing the rights of schools over those of parents in decisions about children's welfare. "You want to lose every election? Just keep coming down on the side of parents coming in second and a who gets to decide what goes on with your kid contest," Maher said.
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