John Oliver tells trans kids ‘you are important’ in furious NSFW rant against Alabama governor
John Oliver tells trans kids ‘you are important’ in sweary rant at Alabama politician banning gender-affirming healthcare (Last Week Tonight/HBO)
John Oliver has torn Alabama politician Kay Ivey to shreds in a furious rant against her bill banning gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth in the state.
The bill, which was partly blocked by a judge on Friday (13 May), would make it a felony for any medical professional to offer gender-affirming care – including puberty blockers and hormone therapy – to trans kids.
“The [law] is absolutely appalling,” Oliver said on his show Last Week Tonight on Sunday (15 May).
“No one should ever receive criminal punishment for providing healthcare to young people.
“Its supporters – like many transphobes – fixate on the surgery part of transitioning even though, for the record, transitioning is far more expansive than that, may not entail surgery, and when it does is none of your business.”
Turning on Republican governor Ivey, who signed the bill into law, Oliver asked, “What the f**k is wrong with you,” stating that the “people in Alabama deserve a lot better than you”.
He added that she is “deeply committed to anti-trans legislation”, even making it part of her re-election campaign.
“If you can look at any child and confidently say, ‘Take away the care that gives them peace and a sense of self,’ you are a bad person”, he added.
BREAKING: Gov. Ivey has just signed this slate of discriminatory legislation into law.
Trans kids in Alabama — you are so loved and we'll never stop fighting for your rights. https://t.co/CQSuLxi6dW
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) April 8, 2022
Ivey also signed a bill that would ban classroom discussions on LGBTQ+ issues “in a manner that is not age-appropriate”, similar to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill which was signed into law in March.
Ivey said in a statement after signing both bills: “I believe very strongly that if the good Lord made you a boy, you are a boy and if he made you a girl, you are a girl.
“We should especially protect our children from these radical, life-altering drugs and surgeries when they are at such a vulnerable stage in life.”
She added that she believes “men use the men’s room” and “ladies use the ladies’ room” in Alabama.
US district judge Liles Burke, however, blocked part of the bill that would ban minors from receiving gender-affirming medications like puberty blockers, stating that the bill failed to provide “credible evidence to show that transitioning medications are ‘experimental’.”
The judge added: “Parents, paediatricians and psychologists – not the state or this court – are best qualified to determine whether transitioning medications are in a child’s best interest on a case-by-case basis.”
John Oliver added to any trans young people watching his show: “You are important. Your lives are important. I can’t imagine trying to build self-esteem in childhood as your own government attempts to undermine your very existence.
“You should know you are profoundly valuable and irreplaceable.”
