Comedian and actress Margaret Cho said the United States is in the “middle of a transgenocide,” pointing to state bathroom and identity laws, revoked driver’s licenses and what she described as the re-legalization of conversion therapy as evidence of what she called an escalating crisis for transgender Americans.
Ms. Cho made the comments during a podcast conversation with comedian W. Kamau Bell on his show “Who’s With Me?”
“It’s really sad and scary the way our government treats trans lives,” Cho said, citing bathroom and identity laws, driver’s license revocations and what she described as the re-legalization of conversion therapy. “We’re in the middle of a transgenocide,” she said, adding that action is needed to keep trans people safe and restore their equality.
Ms. Cho’s remark on conversion therapy appears to reference the Supreme Court’s March 31 ruling in Chiles v. Salazar, which found 8-1 that Colorado’s ban on conversion-therapy talk sessions for minors discriminated based on viewpoint and sent the case back for heightened First Amendment scrutiny. The ruling did not repeal conversion-therapy bans nationwide — more than 20 states have such restrictions — but it could weaken similar laws elsewhere as lower courts apply the stricter standard.
Ms. Cho also criticized fellow comedians for making jokes about transgender people, warning that “when you take trans lives lightly … trans people die.”
The comedian, 57, has spent decades weaving LGBTQ+ advocacy into her stand-up work and has been outspoken on transgender issues throughout the Trump administration’s second term.
Her latest remarks come about a month after Ms. Cho drew backlash for mocking the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died July 11 at age 71 of an aortic dissection. In a video posted to Instagram and TikTok, Ms. Cho referenced long-standing rumors about Graham’s sexuality, saying, “Bye Lindsey, bye Lindsey Graham. From the closet to the coffin. Real seamless.”
She went on to mention Sen. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, the former Senate majority leader, who was hospitalized at the time, adding that such deaths “happen in threes.”
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