Daytime talk show host Wendy Williams quipped about how gay men will never understand what it’s like to menstruate and whaddaya know, the trans community forced her to walk it back with an apology.
During the Feb. 13 episode of The Wendy Williams Show, the host offended the LGBTQ community while making jokes about Valentines Day. While recognizing all the single women in the audience who would be celebrating “Galentines Day” she clarified that no men, not even LGBTQ men, could understand the unique realities of being a woman.
Uh oh. Here’s the exact moment she stepped in it.
The feisty host rebuked any men in the audience cheering about being a single girl on Valentines Day. “Well first of all, if you’re a man and you’re clapping, you’re not even part of this. You don’t even understand the rules of the day. It’s women going out and getting saucy and then going back home.”
Though where Williams’ “strong independent women, who don’t need no man” shtick fell apart is when she started using LGBTQ labels in a non-celebratory manner. Perilous stuff for someone with a media career.
“I don’t care if you’re gay,” the host added, explaining, “You don’t get a mensie every 28 days,” referencing biological women’s menstrual cycles. “You can do a lot that we do, but I get offended by the idea that we go through something you will never go through.”
Then, as though to make sure she’d end up groveling for forgiveness, she added,“And stop wearing our skirts and our heels.”
Wendy’s testimony to biological reality drew swift backlash online. Several users referred to it as an “anti-trans rant.” One tweeted, “#WendyWilliams going on an anti #trans rant for no good reason. Whining about periods as though periods are what's most important about women. Sorry, Wendy. You're not the decider of who can be a woman.” No Wendy’s not, biology is. But that’s probably not what the tweeter wants to hear.
Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness savaged Williams with his tweet: "When your LGBTQ base crumbles beneath your casual & cruel transphobia gender identity isn’t sexuality @WendyWilliams & Cisgender women who don’t have periods are still women. Trans women are women. Non binary are non binary." Completely delusional.
Another tweeted, “ Woah... did @WendyWilliams just say gay men need to stop wearing high heels & skirts ??? Crazy because a lot of Gay men & Trans men support her because SHE LOOKS ALOT LIKE THEM.” Hmm, riveting analysis. That user added, “I am a Straight woman & I was offended! Some shit you should KEEP TO YOURSELF ‼” It’s about virtue signaling, clearly.
These are clown-ish analyses, though Williams felt compelled to apologize the next day, putting a video out on social media in which she said, “I’ll start by saying, I apologize. I did not mean to offend my LGBTQ+ community on yesterday’s show … I didn’t mean to hurt anybody’s feelings. I’m just having a conversation. If you know me long enough, then you know.”
“I will do better,” Williams concluded her statement, and of course that means never again pointing out the difference between biological men and women. In these woke-lympics, everyone’s a loser.
