Bill Maher vs. transgender people

Bill Maher is an American comedian and anti-transgender activist.

Background

William “Bill” Maher was born on January 20, 1956 in New York City. Maher earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in 1978 and began a comedy career in 1979.

Maher hosted the panel show Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997 and on ABC from 1997 to 2002. In 2003 Maher began hosting the weekly show Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO.

Maher has platformed many anti-trans figures over the course of the HBO show, including:

Scott Adams
Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Steve Bannon
Roseanne Barr
Andrew Breitbart
Pat Buchanan

Tucker Carlson *
Adam Carolla
Jonathan Chait
John Cleese
Kellyanne Conway *
Ann Coulter **
Dan Crenshaw
Ted Cruz

Dinesh D’Souza
Richard Dawkins *
Ron DeSantis
Ross Douthat *

Niall Ferguson
Caitlin Flanagan *
Kmele Foster
David French
David Frum ***

Nick Gillespie
Jonah Goldberg
Michelle Goldberg
Glenn Greenwald

Megyn Kelly

Michelle Malkin
John McWhorter *
Dennis Miller
Piers Morgan
Douglas Murray
Elon Musk

Maajid Nawaz

Vivek Ramaswamy
Ralph Reed *
Hanna Rosin
Dave Rubin

Rick Santorum
Dan Savage ***
Phyllis Schlafly
Ben Shapiro
Michael Shellenberger
Peter Singer
Michael Smerconish
Debra Soh
Christina Hoff Sommers
Bret Stephens **
Andrew Sullivan ****

Matt Taibbi ***

Chloe Valdary

Bret Weinstein
Bari Weiss *
Matt Welch

Milo Yiannopoulos

Key:

[no asterisk] >5 appearances
* = 5+ appearances
** = 10+ appearances
*** = 15+ appearances
**** = 20+ appearances

Maher has had a far smaller number of trans-supportive guests. Maher has had trans guests, including:

Janet Mock
Eddie Izzard
Elliot Page
Chaz Bono

References

GLAAD (May 21, 2022). GLAAD Responds to ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ Segment ‘Along for the Pride.’ https://glaad.org/glaad-responds-real-time-bill-maher-segment-along-pride-1/

Tapper, Jake (March 1, 2023). Maher: ‘Woke’ community wants to ‘shut down debate’ around transgender issues. CNN https://www.cnn.com/videos/media/2023/03/01/bill-maher-transgender-community-debate-tapper-intv-sot-vpx.cnn

Joseph A. Wulfsohn (January 21, 2023). Bill Maher says Biden admin ‘all-in’ on trans indoctrination of kids https://nypost.com/2023/01/21/bill-maher-biden-all-in-on-trans-indoctrination-of-kids/

Gabriel Hays (September 4, 2023) Bill Maher tells Joe Rogan gender surgeries are harmful, claims kids turn trans to say ‘f— you’ to parents. Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/media/bill-maher-tells-joe-rogan-gender-surgeries-harmful-claims-kids-turn-trans-say-f-you-parents

Molly Jong-Fast (May 26, 2022). Bill Maher Isn’t a Liberal Anymore. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/05/bill-maher-anti-lgbtq-transgender-comments/676673/

Bill Maher takes on Trans kids in sports, gender affirming surgery in debate with Neil Degrasse Tyson. The Hill https://thehill.com/video/bill-maher-takes-on-trans-kids-in-sports-gender-affirming-surgery-in-debate-with-neil-degrasse-tyson/9151163/

(August 6, 2023). Bill Maher interviews Riley Gaines to discuss the Transgender movement in sports, including penis sizes. Marca https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/tv-shows/2023/08/06/64ceeb79e2704e1ea48b460f.html

Vakil, Caroline (May 21, 2022). Maher says increase in those identifying as LGBT partly attributed to being ‘trendy’. The Hill

Wakefield, Lily (May 21, 2022). Bill Maher says US is ‘experimenting on kids’ and ‘everyone will be gay by 2054’. PinkNews

GLAAD (April 19, 2021). Medical Association Statements Supporting Trans Youth Healthcare and Against Discriminatory Bills. https://www.glaad.org/blog/medical-association-statements-supporting-trans-youth-healthcare-and-against-discriminatory