John Oliver has branded governor Kay Ivey “Alabama’s worst meemaw” over her law banning giving transgender children gender-affirming healthcare.
In April, Ivey signed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, which has been called the “transgender youth ban”. This law makes it illegal to give puberty blockers or hormones to trans people under the age of 19, with a punishment of up to 10 years in prison.
Hosting Last Week Tonight on Sunday (15 May), Oliver called the act “absolutely appalling”
“No one should ever be facing criminal punishment for providing healthcare to young people,” he said.
The comedian then turned his attention to Ivey, who he described as “a woman who always looks like she’s saying ‘ham’”.
“Ivey was deeply committed to anti-trans legislation, even making it a feature of her re-election campaign,” Oliver continued, before playing Ivey’s campaign video in which she described herself as “Alabama’s most conservative governor” and said that gender was about “biology, not “identity”.
“Firstly: f*** you,” Oliver said. “As for her point there that we have to respect ‘how God made us’: do we? Really? Why? Because we’ve got too many holes, way too little hair and necks, fragile lollipop bones that balance our dumb-dumb heads in one very specific direction or else we die. None of this is intelligent design.”
Oliver then pointed out that many major medical associations oppose bans on gender-affirming healthcare because it “save lives”. He called the ban dangerous “right-wing virtue signalling sending a hateful message to a conservative base with no thought given to the pain it will cause”.
He continued: “If you can look at any child and confidently say, ‘Take away the care that gives them peace and a sense of self’, you are a bad person.”
Oliver concluded the segment with a message for trans children, saying: “You are important. Your lives are important. I can’t imagine trying to build self-esteem in childhood as your own government attempts to undermine your very existence. You should know you are profoundly valuable and irreplaceable.”
For Ivey, he said: “As for Kay Ivey: what the f*** is wrong with you? The people in Alabama deserve a lot better than you.”
