But something actually being pretty good instead of terrible is way too low a bar for declaring victory. In many ways, this Last Week Tonight segment is just that. And he fails to humanize those who have been murdered in the epidemic of violence against trans women of color, because he fails to mention this most urgent of issues at all.Īs trans issues gain increased attention and scrutiny, we should applaud media that is actually informative in useful ways.
Oliver does a great job skewering the bathroom panic arguments that are making the rounds yet again, humanizing the issue by focusing on trans kids, though he doesn’t make the link to access to public accommodations more broadly. When discussing discrimination as outlined in the national trans survey, Oliver focuses on being misgendered at the DMV, not on pervasive issues like discrimination in employment and housing that so negatively impact so many. There is a larger problem I have with the specific issues Oliver spends time on, though, and I can’t just blame that on what topics trans folks have brought up in media and politics. So it makes sense given the current focus on military inclusion that Oliver would spend so much time on the subject. But many of the trans folks who do get access to a platform or who can influence policy priorities are understandably the sorts of folks who focus on conservative issues like this. I could do with less focus on military inclusion, as my politics certainly don’t involve supporting government violence (I could also do without naturalizing militarized violence in Afghanistan - this piece by Mahroh does a great job critiquing that sort of argument). John Oliver then moves on to discussing real issues of discrimination, even citing the national trans discrimination survey Injustice At Every Turn.
Which is really all that needs to be said on that subject. If you’re still wondering, ‘What do I call a transgender person, it’s so confusing,’ actually it’s pretty simple: call them whatever they want to be called. And interestingly, their decision on this matter is, medically speaking, none of your fucking business. Some transgender people do undergo hormone therapy or sexual reassignment surgery as part of their transition some do not.
Gender identity is who you are, sexual orientation is who you love. Transgender people have a gender identity that differs from the one they were assigned at birth, and that gender identity is not the same as sexual orientation. Oliver also quickly dispenses with discussion of language and invasive 101 questions that many folks get stuck on: The segment is structured in a way I might have suggested: it starts with media excitement about trans celebrities and the notion that we’re having a trans moment before moving on to real issues. They’ve done a great job both addressing poor media coverage and offering superior framing of a lot of other topics, but I tend to expect trans issues to be an exception. I am in many ways pleasantly surprised by what John Oliver’s show put together. You can watch the video below, followed by my commentary: Yesterday’s episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver featured a segment on trans issues.