john oliver

John Oliver Has a Simple Rule for Avoiding Transphobia

On Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver reflected on recent milestones for the LGBT community, noting that, given the current host of obstacles transgender individuals still face in their day-to-day lives, we shouldn’t feel too self-congratulatory. “We are weirdly comfortable celebrating transgender people, while simultaneously dehumanizing them at the DMV, pinning awards to them as we drum them out of the military, and constantly quizzing them about their genitals,” he points out.

Oliver also joined the crusade against the media’s continued obsession with the state of trans people’s “private parts,” issuing a simple rule of thumb: “It is no more okay to ask transgender people about their sex organs than it is to ask Jimmy Carter whether or not he’s circumcised.” Watch the full clip above.

John Oliver’s Easy Rule for Avoiding Transphobia