When NBC's Saturday Night Live made the dramatic announcement that they'd hired their first "non-binary" cast member, you could guess that the lectures would follow. Molly Kearney unloaded a sermon for "trans kids" on the fake-news "Weekend Update" segment on Saturday.
Over giggles, "Weekend Update" co-host Michael Che tried to be earnest: "Since the start of this year, over 400 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced across the country, many of which target trans youth. Here to talk about it is someone with their own introduction."
Then over rock music, an announcer yelled "Introducing SNL's first nonbinary cast member. It's Molly Kearney!" Kearney was lowered down from above in a harness. NBC did the same promo on the SNL Twitter account:
Introducing SNL’s first non-binary cast member, it's @MEATBRICKMOLLY! pic.twitter.com/tSs2snpHvk
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) April 16, 2023
Possibly referring to behind-the-scenes lobbying, Kearney began: "Well, as you know, I have been wanting to come to Update and talk about trans people, but I have for a much longer time than that wanted to fly down from the ceiling!"
Che then asked if that lived up to expectations. Kearney joked the harness was tight, and "My groin area is beefed! I’ve been hung up on my genitals for far too long and I’m starting to feel like a frickin’ Republican lawmaker!" Har har har.
"That's an awesome transition," said Che, smirking at the double entendre. "As of this week, there are now over 14 states that have passed bills restricting health care for trans kids."
Kearney responded: "Listen to that, Michael, restricting health care for kids. For some reason, there's something about the word trans that makes people forget the word kids. If you don't care about trans kids' lives, it means you don't care about fricking kids' lives!" The audience cheered wildly.
Amputating a teenager's breasts or penis is "health care for kids." If you don't want the amputations, then you don't care about kids!
Then Kearney made a joke about how she was left in the harness too long, but said "we have a code word for emergencies," "trans rights." Then confetti fell from the ceiling. "That was the code for confetti! My bad!" Har har har.
Che said Kearney was being loud. "People need to wake up. We are making trans kids grow up too fast. We should be keeping them safe and we need to lift them up." Is that a reference to puberty blockers, making them "grow up too fast"?
Then Kearney was lifted out of her chair, and she concluded:
Before I go. I want to talk to you. What's happening, kids, is wrong. And you don't need to be scared. Our job is to protect you, and your job is to focus on being a kid. It's kind of like me flying in the SNL sky. There's a bunch of dudes asking you about your crotch, and controlling when and where you're allowed to pee. But if you just hang on, you'll look up and realize, YOU'RE FLYING, KID!
"Trans rights!" Kearney yelled, as she was lifted off screen. More confetti and cheering followed.
Megadonors to this "comedy" included Ford and Starbucks.
The ad that aired in DC directly after this "skit" was for Apretude, a drug for "at-risk adults and adolescents weighing at least 35 kg for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection."
