John Oliver: This has clearly been
a big week for the LGBT community.
But it's also been a big year
for the T part of that equation
from Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair cover
to TV shows like Transparent
uh, to another small milestone
just this Friday.
Announcer: "Actress Laverne Cox
marked another milestone with the drop
of a curtain at Madame Tussaud's
San Francisco"
John Oliver: Now that is big step forward
for transgender Americans.
And it's frankly about time.
Because bear in mind,
it came after the same milestone
for Spider Americans
and wookies.
But for all the strides transgender people
have made lately,
let's not get too complacent
about how far we've come.
Because they still face a host of obstacles.
Even when the news media are trying
to be supportive,
they can make dumb mistakes.
Host: Your... private parts
are different now, aren't they?
Trans interviewee: Shh, Shh!
I don't want to talk about it
because it's still-
it's really personal.
Host: Don't you
feel funny with the-
wrong genitalia?
Not as a joke,
you stand up in the women's bathroom.
Host: You've got breast implants.
Laverne Cox: [laughs]
I, you know, I, uh
Host: They're tasteful, whatever's going on there.
LC: Thank you.
Host: So if I saw you undressed,
you would look
like a woman to me, totally-
yes?
John Oliver: What are you doing??
It is no more okay to ask
transgender people about their sex organs
then it would be to ask
Jimmy Carter whether or not
he's circumcised.
Which, by the way,
he is.
Smooth like a boiled carrot.
And, and sometimes
sometimes- don't think about that-
and sometimes
the media's confusion
is even more basic than that.
As in the case of
this Arizona weatherman
just two weeks ago.
Announcer: And a transgender woman
says she was kicked out
of a Tempe bar
Weatherman: Let's bring it back
to that earlier headline.
Now, what is a transgender woman?
Announcer: Yes?
Weatherman: What does that even mean now?
Announcer: Ok...
She- used to be a guy!
Announcer 2: But now is a woman.
Announcer: This is, this is uh, chuckles
Weatherman: Aren't you just saying a woman then?
I, I can't even keep up anymore!
John Oliver: Holy Shit!
I really hope that's also
how he reports the weather.
Wait, wait, it used to be rainy-
and now it's sunny?
So, so now it's just sunny?
I can't even keep up anymore!
I can't-
This doesn't make my head work!
Look- let's give him
the benefit of the doubt.
Maybe for him,
and for many people
this is new information.
Maybe he's thinking about
transgender issues for the first time
And he needs a minute
to try and understand it.
So let's take that minute
to fill in that bamboozled weatherman
And everyone else on some basic details.
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.
Gender Identity is who you are,
Sexual Orientation is who you love.
Some transgender people do
undergo hormone therapy
or sexual reassignment surgery
as part of their transition, some do not!
And interestingly, their decision on this matter is
medically speaking,
none of your fucking business.
Audience: [cheering]
And if you're still wondering
well hold on, hold on,
what do I call a transgender person
it's so confusing,
well actually it's pretty simple.
Call them, whatever they want to be called.
You can do it!
We do it all the time.
Think of it this way.
David Evans woke up one day
and said,
"Everyone call me The Edge"
and we all went,
Fine, The Edge
are we talking the noun or the verb?
And, and that's
it's not just that, it's not just that!
Over the past twenty years,
we've agreed to call this man
Puff Daddy,
P. Diddy,
just Diddy,
and now Puff Daddy again
and most people don't even like him!
[laughter]
And here's the thing-
Here's the important thing
it's genuinely crucial
that we get this right.
Because there are more transgender people
in the US than you might realize.
One study estimates that nearly
700,000 American adults are transgender.
That's more than the population of Boston
and you probably know someone from Boston.
I'll give you a clue-
it was the guy who wore a Bruin's jersey
to your sister's wedding.
And while a handful of transgender people
have been winning awards,
or appearing on magazine covers
the community at large
has been facing some staggering challenges.
Voiceover: "A 2011 survey
by the National Center for Transgender Equality
found 41% of transgender people
had attempted suicide."
Presenter: They are nearly
four times more likely
to make less
than 10,000 dollars a year
compared to the general population.
Voiceover: 78% of those surveyed
reported harassment during K-12 schooling,
35% reported physical assault,
and 12% were sexually assaulted.
John Oliver: That is terrible.
Those statistics are so depressing
it's enough to make you angry
at the very concept of numbers.
Fuck you, symbols meant to represent
a specific value!
You're the absolute WORST.
The WORST!!
Look, look.
We've clearly
got work to do.
Because when you're transgender,
pretty much any interaction
with bureaucracy
can be humiliatingly difficult.
Just take what happened to
two transgender women
when they went to the DMV
in West Virginia.
Announcer: Both women
were asked to remove
all their jewelry, makeup, and wigs
before the DMV would photograph them.
Trans Woman 1: They're saying
that I need to fulfill
a certain- a certain look
that they are designating means- male
and that I'm, you know, hiding who I am,
which I am absolutely NOT.
Announcer: Both women say
they were also referred to as "it".
Woman 2: Words can't explain
the humiliation I felt that day.
That was the worst thing
in 52 years of my life
that I have ever felt.
John Oliver: Listen,
I'm not saying anyone
has a good DMV experience.
But that is the worst
I have ever heard.
And for the record,
you get pick virtually everything else
on your driver's license.
They ask you your weight.
They don't weigh you
like a prize hog.
[laughter]
Plus, the whole idea
of a driver's license photo
is to present
how you look from day to day.
That's why DMV employees
tell you not to smile,
because they can't imagine anyone
whose normal existence
involves happiness in any form.
And, even in,
even in organizations
that have seemed willing to change,
that change has come frustratingly slowly.
Take the military-
both the Secretary of Defense
and President Obama
have indicated they are open
to transgender troops
being able to serve.
And yet, they are still
banned from enlisting
because of weirdly archaic restrictions
on things like, uh,
"defects of the genitalia"
such as "change of sex" and
"psychosexual conditions
including but not limited to
transsexualism and transvestism"
Our current recruitment poster
is essentially,
I want you, maybe,
after we talk about your genitals for a bit,
I know that's weird,
but for the moment
this is apparently how we do things.
And yet even despite
those restrictions on enlistment,
by one estimate
there are currently
15,000 transgender service members.
And while you can be discharged
for being transgender,
those rules are enforced inconsistently
depending on your branch of service
and commanding officer,
meaning experiences can vary wildly.
For some, like Logan Island,
it can be great.
Logan: What I like about
this deployment, is-
I can be my authentic self.
I'm just another guy
whereas back home,
I'm... still seen as female
and I go by female regs and standards.
Here, in Afghanistan,
a war zone,
It's like a vacation to me
because I can be myself
in such an austere environment.
John Oliver: It is not
a great sign
for how we treat transgender people
that Afghanistan is
"a place where you can be yourself"
That is the least likely
tourism slogan for Afghanistan.
Well, I'd put it right behind
"Waterpark Capital of the World"
and "Birthplace of the Twerk"
But, compare that with the experience
of Captain Jacob Eleazar,
of the Army National Guard
who faced discharge
for being transgender
despite his own commander's support
and the fact he was being awarded a medal.
Jacob: The thing
that stuck with me the most
is as they were pinning
that army commendation medal on me,
my regimental commander said,
"Thank you for everything that you've done for our regiment,
Jacob."
And, and used- used my real name.
Um, and, I can't- I can't express
just the emotion
of that juxtaposition.
Because like, you're,
you're kicking me out
um, but you're acknowledging me
for myself and giving me an award
at the same time.
John Oliver: That's utterly ridiculous.
They gave him an award
and then tried to kick him out.
It's pretty much what
Hollywood did to Cuba Gooding Jr.
And that wasn't ok either!
But, but this is the big problem.
this is the big problem!
Because even when
people say the right things
about the transgender community
too often
practical change fails to follow.
And perhaps the perfect embodiment
of this concerns bathrooms.
We all use them.
As the good book tells us,
Everyone Poops.
Or, as it's known in England,
Everyone Poops but the Queen.
She has people do it for her.
Across the country,
there have been efforts by lawmakers
to fight non-discrimination ordinances
with so-called "bathroom bills"
Like this one, in Arizona.
Announcer: It's a new
"show me your papers" bill
for Arizona,
the sex on your birth certificate
would have to match
the sex of the bathroom
or locker room that you use.
The target: transgender men and women
here in Arizona.
Interviewee: 6 months in jail,
2500 dollar fine,
for just going in to pee.
John Oliver: 2,500 dollar fine
for peeing in the "wrong place"
Look, unless you happen to urinate
a 1989 Chateau Petrus,
you're not even gonna break even on that deal.
In the most recent session,
at least 13 bathroom bills
have been introduced in state legislatures.
And the reasoning behind them
can be pretty insulting.
Just listen to Presidential Candidate
Mike Huckabee.
MH: We are now, in city after city,
watching ordinances that say
that your 7 year old daughter,
if she goes into the restroom
cannot be offended-
and you can't be offended
if she is greeted there
by a 42 year old man
who feels more like a woman
than he does a man.
Now, I wish someone had told me
when I was in high school
that I could have felt like a woman
when it came time to take showers in PE.
I'm pretty sure I would have found
my feminine side and said,
Coach, I think I'd rather shower
with the girls today.
You're laughing
because it sounds so ridiculous,
doesn't it?
There's something inherently wrong
with forcing little children
to, to be apart of this social experiment.
John Oliver: No, but uh,
there IS something inherently wrong
with forcing us to listen to
your fucked up daydreams about
all the sex crimes you would have commited
as a teenager
had you just been able to find a legal loophole.
That's weird!
[cheering]
And that, that kind of
baseless fear mongering
is everywhere!
It even turned up in a campaign ad
when Gainesville, Florida
was trying to pass one of these bills.
[sounds of children playing]
John Oliver: Ok-
let's- let's break that bullshit down.
Because, first,
assaulting children is still illegal.
Secondly, someone abusing
a non-discrimination ordinance
to assault someone in a bathroom
is almost unheard of.
It's a borderline imaginary crime.
Like, dragon rustling
or space bestiality.
Sure, it's terrible,
but it doesn't really happen!
Also, forcing transgender people
into certain bathrooms
can actually be much more disruptive,
as activist Michael Hughes,
a transgender man, showed with
this photo
of himself looking,
understandably,
awkward in a ladies room.
Because, there are many places
that Michael would fit in.
Um, a tattoo parlor in Reno,
playing steel guitar in a Johnny Cash tribute band,
or on the label of his own BBQ sauce,
but a women's bathroom
ehh, not so much.
Besides, it is so much easier for everyone
when people are allowed to use the bathroom
that matches their gender identity
rather than one that might match
the genitalia they were born with.
That is why, the little pictures
on bathroom doors are
stereotypical representations of
men and women
and not biologically accurate depictions
of penises and vaginas.
Because that,
would be troubling for children!
Um, Mommy, mommy,
Do I go with the one with the
pouty slug or the angry goat skull?
I'm scared.
Yet, legislators have even tried to
enforce these bills in high schools
with damaging consequences.
Take the case of Henry Brousseau,
a transgender high school student
who spoke in opposition
to a proposed bathroom bill in Kentucky.
HB: Even though I've been living as a male
for some time,
and I've been accepted
by my friends and family as male
I was being forced to use the girl's bathroom
at my school until very recently.
Because the school administration
did not support my gender identity
by letting me use the restrooms
concordant with my gender identity,
the kids at my school bullied me.
The kids thought that because
the administration didn't support
my gender identity, they didn't have to either.
John Oliver: And that,
is the whole point.
Official rules can end up
legitimizing prejudice.
And besides, teenagers
really don't need extra ideas
for how to make each other's
lives miserable.
That's what they do!
Uh, sit on your own Becca~
side ponytails are so
5 nevers ago.... ha!
And, look,
as Henry finished his speech,
it actually seemed like
he'd really connected with the legislators.
HB: If you don't know a transgender kid already,
you do now.
You know me, Henry.
Please let me know how I can be
of any further assistance
and thank you so much for your time today
and please vote no on Senate bill 76.
Sen. Max Wise: I educated myself
a lot today,
and I appreciate the testimony.
Sen. Carpenter: You should be proud of yourself
for being able to stand
in front of this committee and
be so articulate in your comments.
Sen. Kerr: Henry, I love you man.
I- I appreciate you.
I appreciate your courage.
I can't really imagine that anyone else
in this room has the kind of courage
that it took for you to come
and testify today.
John Oliver: Ok, ok, but
"I luv you man"
is a little much.
I love Henry too,
but he's not the best man at your wedding,
he's a teenage boy
trying to take a shit in the men's room.
And, and it's worth noting
once they were done patting Henry
on the back,
and then patting themselves
for patting Henry,
all three of those lawmakers
voted to advance the bill
to force him into bathrooms
where he's bullied!
Now, thankfully that particular bill
never became law
but that dynamic
of praising a transgender person's
couuurage
and then not actually supporting them
speaks to the fact that
we are weirdly comfortable
celebrating transgender people
while simultaneously dehumanizing them
at the DMV,
pinning awards to them
as we drum them out of the military,
and constantly quizzing them
about their genitals.
And look, this is a civil right's issue.
And, if you are not willing
to support transgender people
for their sake,
at least do it for your own.
Because we've been through this before-
We know how this thing ends.
If you take the anti civil right's side,
and deny people access to something
they're entitled to,
history is not going to be kind to you.
There is no biopic where Liam Neeson
kicks the shit out of a Suffragist.
There, there's not a stamp
featuring George Wallace
at the school house door.
And you are not going to get
a monument that says at the base of it,
"He Told People Where to Shit."