Bill Maher: Trans equality must wait until after presidential election

[Behind the Aegis]

THIS IS THE LGBT GROUP!

In his “New Rules” segment Friday night, Bill Maher called for “boutique issues” like transgender equality to be put on hold until after the “Armageddon” presidential election, Yahoo! TV reports.

The “Real Time” host said that defeating Trump must be the top priority.

“From now until Election Day, everything else — every issue, every fight, every cause — has to take a backseat to defeating Trump,” Maher said. “We all have our issues that are important to us, and so just to lead by example, let me say I will take my own close-to-the-heart pet cause — pot legalization — off the table. And you know me: I have seeds in my urine!”

Twitter wasn’t having it. Some called out his characterization of the issues liberals and progressive are fighting for, as well as the privileged lens through which he views them:

more...

[hr]

Well, we have certainly heard this before. Even now we are being told we are being "selfish", I was told I was stupid and ushering in a Trump presidency, and "cultural issues" aren't important. A commenter to this article wrote:

Yes, after the election, then after the innaugaration, then after the first 100 days, then maybe after the mid term elections, then after the first manned trip to mars and the building of a colony on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system, then in 3535.....

Dr. King said: In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

[TDale313]

1. Fuck that noise.

Sorry, so easy to tell someone else that now's not the time to fight for their civil rights.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Heterosexual/Cis privilege on display.

We often hear about other forms of "privilege" and types of "'splainin'", but when it comes to GLBT, people don't want to hear it, or even discuss it. But people sure do love using both!

[area51]

3. Hey, Maher,

F U. "Boutique issue" my ass.

[stopbush]

4. What is it with Maher, anyway?

Doesn't he understand that inalienable rights start with the rights we are all supposed to have equally because we are all human beings? The first stop on that train is that your rights are not curtailed based on how you were born: male/female, white/non-white, gay/straight - you were born that way.

That's more basic than having rights to things that you have a choice about: religion, political affiliation, legalzing marijuana, gun ownershiper, freedom of speech or any of the other myriad rights (or privileges) that are not basic to the way you were born.

Where does one get the nerve to tell people that they must set aside their basic rights, lest their rights become an issue in an election? Rights are not issues.

Sometimes Maher is just plain stupid.

[Skittles]

6. he's always been a sexist asshole

and I think sexism is at the heart of homophobia and transphobia

[stopbush]

8. You're right. I cringe every time he uses the word "bitch" as a term of derision.

Doesn't he realize that the term at its core refers to a female animal, and that using it as a term of derision indicates that the female of the species is a lesser creature than the male? When he calls Trump "a whiny little bitch" he is dependent on negative stereotypes of women for the "joke" to work: Trump is a lesser person than others because he exhibits characteristics of a whiny female, which is worse than a whiny male. Being female in and if itself makes you less than a male.

He is stuck in a 1960s attitude about sex. He sees transgender and gay rights as having to do with the sex act, not with sexuality. But then, he tends to see all male-female relationships and interactions as being based on the act of sex. That's why he continues to make jokes about sex in a way that most modern comedians have dumped as being disrespectful and ignorant.

[Skittles]

11. you are absolutely correct

true progressives see LGBT as people defined by their humanity, not their sex lives.....Bill Maher is a mixed bag - he sees how disgusting republicans are, but cannot see how disgusting his own sexism is.......it's why I don't watch him

[Initech]

13. His Caitlyn Jenner "joke" a couploe of weeks ago...

Was a definite swing and a miss. Ugh. I normally like Maher but he definitely has some cringe-worthy moments like that.

[Skittles]

5. it's never the right time, is it?

[LostOne4Ever]

7. It worked for Kerry in 2004 didn't it?

[font style="font-family:'Georgia','Baskerville Old Face','Helvetica',fantasy;" size=4 color=#00009d]Oh wait....Kerry got his butt kicked so hard he still has heart burn from Bush's Loafer being lodged in his esophagus.

Sacrificing people and minority rights does NOT help win elections. It makes the people doing it look like political opportunists who are willing to throw their principals and values under the bus for short term gain.

It shows the american people that you (rhetorical "you&quot can't be trusted to stand up for the rights of your own Allies! Why should the American people expect you to stand up for them when you throw your allies under the bus at the first sign of difficulty?

It also plays right into the hands of conservatives. In addition to showing everyone that you don't give a shit about the issues you claim to support it allows the right wing to energize their base with their bigoted rhetoric while de-energized our base and we lose the moral high ground to call out our opponents on their bigotry.

What Bill Maher is calling for is strategically and MORALLY reprehensible. It is nothing more than an excuse to get people to ignore the fact that the person calling for it doesn't give a shit about the LGBTQ community and sees it as nothing more than a commodity to exploit.

Normally I like Maher, but on this all I have to say is

[div class="excerpt" style="margin-left:1em; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius:0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"][center][font style="font-family:'Brush Script MT','Lucida handwriting','forte',cursive;" size=7 color=crimson]Bill Maher

please

[/font][/center][/font]

[Behind the Aegis]

10. Like you, I agree with him on a number of thigs, but this...this is just cowardly.

The people here (and in the democratic party at large) who support this type of bullshit are so blinded by their own privilege, they can't see the damage they are doing to some of the most loyal democrats. They are so worried about "offending" the wrong types, they aren't worried about offending those who make a huge base of their support. They know they can shit all over us, they love to do it, I am convinced, because they can still spout their bullshit lie, "I really do support GLBT rights" while being a homophobic/heterosexist bigot. See, we are the ones who always have to "take one for the team" all the while giving them our money and support. Perhaps they would be better served in working their asses off trying to attract voters instead of shitting on them.

Ponies anyone?

[LostOne4Ever]

12. I firmly believe, that words alone are never enough

[font style="font-family:'Georgia','Baskerville Old Face','Helvetica',fantasy;" size=4 color=#00009d]If a person really believes in a causes their actions need to reflect it as well.

I see a lot of people who like to make empty platitudes about supporting a cause, but when the time comes when it really matters they choose a course of action that actually hurt the issues they claim to support.

They treat issues like LGBTQ rights more like a fashion statement. Its not about the rights of others so much as it is about making a statement about themselves. I guess you could call them ideological hipsters, and (to me) it smacks of privilege of the highest order.

I firmly believe that if people would have worked to change minds on same sex marriage rather than capitulate to the bigots then marriage equality would have been legalized nearly a decade earlier.[/font]

[Iggo]

9. It's always something, ain't it.

The time is now.

The time is always now.