Stephen Colbert voiced his displeasure at Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s announcement that he plans to sign bills that will prohibit “gender-affirming care” for minors and drag shows for children on Wednesday’s edition of The Late Show on CBS. Colbert was so disgusted by the moves that he addressed Lee as “you dick.”
Colbert began by announcing the news, “There's some troubling news from Tennessee, thanks to Republican Governor and dad's friend saying ‘Wow, you really grew up over the summer,’ Bill Lee. Lee announced he will be signing Tennessee's sweeping new anti-LGBTQ bills, which, among other things will ban gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth.”
Expressing his opposition, Colbert continued, “Come on. Transgender or not, I don’t care who you are, all teens struggle with figuring out relationship to their bodies.”
Colbert is exactly right, but his conclusion is completely backwards. Teenagers do struggle with their relationship with their bodies which is why it is highly irresponsible to encourage boys to think they that they are girls and vice versa.
Moving right along, Colbert also reported that, “Tennessee isn't just coming for the young ones. The governor has said he'd sign a bill that would restrict drag shows. Yes, he wants to severely limit drag. Our Founding Fathers did not create this country so men could wear frilly shirts, silk stockings, and powdered wigs!”
The Founding Fathers did not wear dresses or parade around in front of children in a hyper-sexualized manner.
For, Colbert the biggest problem was trying to define “sexualized entertainment,” as he argued Lee doesn’t have a good answer, “You know who else can't define what drag is? Governor Bill Lee. Because the day before he announced he'd sign the bill, a picture of him emerged dressed in drag in high school. Okay, okay. Okay, okay, admittedly those are some great gams, but I'm sorry, those pearls?”
The photo in question is from a high school yearbook and shows Lee in a cheerleader’s uniform, but if Colbert was trying to portray Lee as a hypocrite, he failed because Lee wasn’t performing in a sexual manner in front of children.
Still, Colbert had some advice for Lee, “Governor, remember what Coco Chanel said about accessories, ‘Before you leave the house, look in the mirror, and stop trying to score political points with your base at the expense of real human beings, you dick.’”
Again, Colbert got it backwards it is people who are preying on the confusion and innocence of children who are appealing to their political base at the expense of real human beings. That is something someone who claims to be a devout Catholic should be able to understand.
This segment was sponsored by Applebee’s
Here is a transcript for the March 1 show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
3/1/203
11:44 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: There's some troubling news from Tennessee, thanks to Republican Governor and dad's friend saying "Wow, you really grew up over the summer", Bill Lee. Lee announced he will be signing Tennessee's sweeping new anti-LGBTQ bills, which, among other things will ban gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth. Come on. Transgender or not, I don’t care who you are, all teens struggle with figuring out relationship to their bodies. You think Unilever had grown adults in mind when they made Axe Body Spray in golden mango? You know their motto. "Mom, I did shower!"
Tennessee isn't just coming for the young ones. The governor has said he'd sign a bill that would restrict drag shows. Yes, he wants to severely limit drag. Our Founding Fathers did not create this country so men could wear frilly shirts, silk stockings, and powdered wigs!
…
You know who else can't define what drag is? Governor Bill Lee. Because the day before he announced he'd sign the bill, a picture of him emerged dressed in drag in high school. Okay, okay. Okay, okay, admittedly those are some great gams, but I'm sorry, those pearls? Governor, remember what Coco Chanel said about accessories, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror, and stop trying to score political points with your base at the expense of real human beings, you dick.”
