Bill Maher is cautioning Democrats that forcing government control over parental rights in transgender matters will result in electoral disaster for the party.
Speaking on the Pod Save America podcast, Maher told former Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett that Democrats risk losing every election if they continue pushing policies that undermine parental authority.
“You want to lose every election? Just keep coming down on the side of parents coming in second in a ‘Who gets to decide what goes on with my kid’ contest,” Maher said.
Maher’s remarks came in response to Lovett’s argument that parents should only have a say in their child’s transgender-related decisions if they fully support their child’s identity.
Lovett implied that parents who do not affirm their child’s transgender identity are comparable to abusive parents who endanger their children.
“I don’t want Donald Trump deciding [child trans-related issues], I want parents and doctors—” Lovett began before Maher cut in.
“Well, you just said parents can get shut out,” Maher responded.
Lovett attempted to clarify his stance, saying, “I don’t think parents should get shut out. There are rare exceptions to that… but we also recognize that some parents do such a bad f**king job, that the kids are in danger.”
He continued, “That happens outside of trans issues, that happens all the time. Some parents are f**king terrible.”
Lovett went on to claim that the reality of “terrible parents” is often ignored in discussions about transgender policies. He insisted, “Do I think that schools should, as a baseline, be keeping a secret from parents? Of-f**king-course not. No one thinks that.”
Maher pushed back, stating, “Apparently that’s not true. People do think that.”
During the discussion, Lovett compared regrettable transgender surgeries to botched heart surgeries, suggesting that mistakes in the medical field do not justify banning a particular treatment.
“There are 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 said.
A skeptical Maher responded, “Wow. That’s your analogy?”
Lovett continued, “We don’t get rid of the specific surgery. We don’t throw out a whole field of medicine. We say, ‘Let’s make sure we’re doing it in a way that’s healthy.’”
He defended so-called gender-affirming care, stating, “The science, the research, makes clear that, yes, there are exceptions. Yes, there are people practicing it in ways that maybe go too far, but for the most part, study after study shows that gender-affirming care saves a lot of lives.”
He also dismissed concerns over transgender procedures as “edge cases.”
Maher then referenced a major story published by The New York Times, which revealed that a ten-year study on transgender medical interventions was deliberately withheld because the findings did not support the preferred narrative.
“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’ — no,” Maher said.
He acknowledged that for some individuals, transgender medical treatments may be appropriate, but questioned the risks involved in performing irreversible procedures on minors.
“Some people, yes, [trans surgeries] are the right thing,” Maher said.
“But to take that risk at that age, before you know sh*t about anything — and again, this was a very long study, very thorough. And they wouldn’t release it, because it came out with the wrong conclusion.”
Maher’s remarks highlight an ongoing political battle over parental rights and government involvement in transgender policies.
As Democratic leaders continue pushing school and state-driven policies that limit parental oversight in these decisions, Maher’s warning suggests the party risks alienating voters who see these policies as overreach.
With parental rights becoming a key issue ahead of the 2024 elections, Maher’s comments could reflect a broader concern among some Democrats that pushing too far could cost them at the ballot box.
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