A heavily imbalanced CNN Tonight panel declared on Friday that Republicans and specifically Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is a hypocrite for banning gender transitions for minors and to overly-sexualized drag shows for children are hypocrites, first for claiming to believe in limited government and second because he has been photographed in drag. Neither criticism holds up under factual review.
Doug Hyde, who was outnumbered four-to-one, made the argument that banning gender transitions for minors isn’t that radical considering teenagers change their minds on all sorts of things and that there are age limits for driving and alcohol and cigarette consumption.
This argument did not sit well with former Rep. Mondaire Jones, “The laws that we have to, say, you can't smoke until you're at certain age or you can't drink until you're at certain age, that is meant to protect the health of the individual and the rest is society.”
Hyde interjected to ask about “hormone blockers?,” but his remarks got lost as Camerota also interrupted, “Yeah, but don’t these people think that they're protecting the health of the teenagers?”
Jones continued, portraying the move as nothing more than politics, “physicians and psychologists are saying it is harmful to children who are experiencing, for example, gender dysphoria, among other things, to not be able to treat them appropriately, and that is the fundamental difference between the laws that you just described and the law that, for political purposes, the governor of Tennessee has just signed.”
Former tennis player Patrick McEnroe followed up by declaring, “Can't people make their own decisions about how they want to live their lives if it doesn't affect other people in a negative way?”
As McEnroe was speaking, Camerota disregarded her previous question and Hyde’s point, “Not apparently adolescents and teenagers.”
Vanity Fair’s Molly Jong-Fast was next and she claimed that, “I also wonder, like, what happened to the Republican Party of smaller government? Right? Like, you know, I was hearing that governor say we're not going to tell you to vaccinate your kids, but we are going to tell you that you can't -- you know, you can't get them therapy -- you know, this –”
The two things are completely different, one is about a new vaccine and the other is about a political ideology. However, Camerota concurred with Jong-Fast, “Yeah. No, it is -- I mean, it's -- the inconsistency is laid bare right there.”
Moving on Camerota moved on to drag show, “It's an offense. It's now illegal for a person who engages in adult cabaret performances and as a feature of the performance is a male or female impersonator who provides entertainment viewed by a person who is not an adult. Okay. It's just -- it's again just interesting to see that the governor himself dressed as a woman in his high school photo. Here he is. Dressed as a woman because lots of people –”
Camerota’s reading of the law is highly selective to the point of be misinformation. The law says, “‘Adult cabaret performance’ means a performance in a location other than an adult cabaret that features topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest, or similar entertainers, regardless of whether or not performed for consideration.”
The photo of Lee is of him in a cheerleader uniform, he was not practically naked or doing any of the overtly sexual acts that are featured in some of the viral videos that served as the inspiration for this law that everybody, Hyde included, on this CNN panel ignored.
This segment was sponsored by Subaru.
Here is a transcript for the March 3 show:
CNN Tonight
3/3/2023
11:07 PM ET
MONDAIRE JONES: The laws that we have to, say, you can't smoke until you're at certain age or you can't drink until you're at certain age, that is meant to protect the health of the individual and the rest is society.
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Yeah, but don’t these people think that they're protecting the health of the teenagers?
DOUG HYDE: Hormone Blockers?
JONES: But here physicians-- physicians and psychologists are saying it is harmful to children who are experiencing, for example, gender dysphoria, among other things, to not be able to treat them appropriately, and that is the fundamental difference between the laws that you just described and the law that, for political purposes, the governor of Tennessee has just signed.
PATRICK MCENROE: Can't people make their own decisions about how they want to live their lives –
CAMEROTA: Not apparently adolescents and teenagers.
MCENROE: -- if it doesn't affect other people in a negative way?
MOLLY JONG-FAST: But I also wonder, like, what happened to the Republican Party of smaller government? Right? Like, you know, I was hearing that governor say we're not going to tell you to vaccinate your kids, but we are going to tell you that you can't -- you know, you can't get them therapy -- you know, this –
CAMEROTA: Yeah. No, it is -- I mean, it's -- the inconsistency is laid bare right there. Let's also talk about the bill that he signed about drag shows. So, as you know, not only are -- is trans a hot button word but drag shows are. And so now he has signed -- I think I have the language here. It's an offense. It's now illegal for a person who engages in adult cabaret performances and as a feature of the performance is a ‘male or female impersonator’ who provides entertainment ‘viewed by a person who is not an adult.’
Okay. It's just -- it's again just interesting to see that the governor himself dressed as a woman in his high school photo. Here he is. Dressed as a woman because lots of people –
MCENROE: Because it's fun.
CAMEROTA: Because it's fun and it's funny and lots of people dress as a different gender to perform –
MCENROE: And by the way, being a drag queen is a serious art form, and they've been doing it for thousands of years. It's entertaining. People like to express themselves. It's fun to watch it. And you might actually learn something about the world and other people.
