(Screenshot from Netflix’s Youtube)
Coming home from a long day at work to settle down and unwind by switching on Netflix is no longer an activity that could be defined as comforting — at least not for members of the transgender community.
Comedian Ricky Gervais derides and ridicules trans women in his new Netflix special “SuperNature,” adversely comparing them to cisgender women, who he refers to as “the old-fashioned ones.” Despite having only just been released, the uproar from viewers has been incessant.
Gervais’ comments consisted of attempts at joking about trans women’s genitalia, their sharing of women’s restrooms and even going as far as misgendering the entire trans women community and mocking those who support it.
“I love the new women…The ones with beards and cocks,” Gervais said in the special. “And now the old-fashioned ones say ‘Oh, they want to use our toilets.’ ‘Why shouldn’t they use your toilets?’ ‘For ladies!’…’What about this person isn’t a lady?’ ‘Well, his penis.’ ‘Her penis, you fucking bigot!’”
Gervais’ jokes did not stick the landing he intended them to with members of the trans community and allies alike taking a stand online and criticizing the comedian for demeaning and making a mockery of an entire demographic of people.
Ricky Gervais has a new stand up show out on Netflix today.
5 minutes in and he’s making jokes about trans women attacking & raping people in public bathrooms. To him we exist only as a punchline, a threat, something less than human.
— Esme (@discount_Ripley) May 24, 2022
Ricky Gervais is a disgrace, he is going to cause hate crime and ultimately the death of Trans folk. Anyone who needs to vilify minorities to get a laugh is the most evil hateful soul and seriously needs mental help https://t.co/0odAuWMUWp
— Dr Amy Roberts (@DRAmRoberts) May 24, 2022
Ricky Gervais could go after the governments, banks, billionaires. The ones causing actual harm to ordinary people all over the world on an unfathomable scale every single day.
But he goes after trans people instead. Yeah Ricky, son, you speak your truth to power. Coward.
— Elon Musk is a cunt (@Gobias___) May 24, 2022
What really added fuel to the flame was Gervais’ shot at painting himself as an ally to the trans community at the end of the special.
“In real life, of course I support trans rights. I support all human rights, and trans rights are human rights,” he said. “Be the gender that you feel you are, but meet me halfway, ladies: Lose the cock. That’s all I’m saying.”
This isn’t the first time a comedian has chosen to make the trans community the butt of their joke. In recent years, comedian Dave Chappelle has made his stance on trans rights and the community overtly clear — and it’s not an inherently favorable one. In his 2021 Netflix special “The Closer,” Chappelle stated that trans women aren’t “real” women, which he received a lot of backlash for. However, co-CEO of Netflix Ted Sarandos argued that broadcasting his views across their streaming platform falls within his rights to free speech.
John Mulaney’s Friday night stand-up show in Columbus, Ohio featured Chappelle as a surprise guest who, for 15 minutes, made anti-trans and anti-gay jokes. Fans who just wanted to watch Mulaney’s performance were appalled to witness Chappelle once again insult the LGBTQ community.
“It hurts to know that Chappelle’s transphobia wasn’t enough of a deterrent to keep him off the show,” Morgan, whose last name was withheld to protect her privacy, told Buzzfeed News. “I probably wouldn’t have gone, or I would’ve at least skipped the openers, if I knew Chappelle would be there.”
Comedian Bill Maher claimed Friday on his HBO show “Real Time” that some people who identify as being a part of the LGBTQ community are merely just following what’s “trendy.”
“Yes, part of the rise in LGBT numbers is from people feeling free enough to tell it to a pollster and that’s all to the good, but some of it is — it’s trendy,” Maher said on the show.
Maher also claimed that kids are fluid about everything and that if they knew what they wanted to be when they grow up from a young age, then “the world would be filled with cowboys and princesses.”
The comedian joked that putting young trans children on hormone blockers is a form of experimentation and allowing genital surgery is using children as part of the culture wars.
“If you are a man who wants to experience life without a pair of balls, you can get married,” Maher joked.
In terms of progression for LGBTQ equality, it seems that society is experiencing a regression due to the number of comedians who are consistently being granted platforms in which they use to interrupt the world’s ability to attain acceptance for the marginalized community.
