Former Fox News and NBC News personality Megyn Kelly was criticized after she claimed many of her gay and lesbian friends don't think transgender people should be part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Kelly made the remarks during a conversation with far-right extremist Steven Crowder, who she'd invited onto her SiriusXM show. Crowder claimed there is a “slippery slope” of transgender civil rights and equality if leftist activists "get their way."
Kelly claimed her friends don't "get" why transgender people are included as part of the larger LGBTQ+ community, expressing her belief gays, lesbians and transgender people have divergent interests.
You can hear her remarks in the video below.
Megyn Kelly: "The crazy trans activists are so vicious. And they're basically, kinda, doing conversion therapy on young gay men"pic.twitter.com/OZX2llMq2I— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1650895757
Kelly said:
“I’ve talked to a lot of gay and lesbian friends who have said, ‘I don’t totally get why the T is at the end of LGBT,’ and the Q and all. The interests aren’t necessarily aligned."
"In fact, if you look at like the trans activists – like the crazy trans, not like normal – whatever, the crazy trans activists are so vicious, and they, they’re basically kind of doing conversion therapy on young gay men."
She proceeded to to mock these "crazy trans activists," suggesting that they are trying to convince gay men that it's better "to just say that you're a girl, then you can get rid of that whole gay thing."
She added:
"And we're seeing more and more of this. There is a question if the interests of the gay community are aligned, the way that GLAAD would have us believe."
Kelly's remarks were swiftly criticized.
Ah yes, those "crazy" trans people that torture you for days for being gay, next to the unicorns passing drugs and the braincells you two should have gotten at birthhttps://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1518592991073603585\u00a0\u2026— \u2730 ( Na )\ud835\udc15\ud835\udc08: \ud835\udc13\ud835\udc07\ud835\udc04 \ud835\udc0c\ud835\udc00\ud835\udc03 \ud835\udc0e\ud835\udc0d\ud835\udc04. (@\u2730 ( Na )\ud835\udc15\ud835\udc08: \ud835\udc13\ud835\udc07\ud835\udc04 \ud835\udc0c\ud835\udc00\ud835\udc03 \ud835\udc0e\ud835\udc0d\ud835\udc04.) 1650973955
helpful reminder that Megyn Kelly is a hateful despicable monsterhttps://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1518592991073603585\u00a0\u2026— sweetleaf says: abolish the Electoral College (@sweetleaf says: abolish the Electoral College) 1650898910
\u201ccrazy\u201d white nationalists shoot up buildings & commit terrorist acts on american soil. maybe we should be worried about those more?https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1518592991073603585\u00a0\u2026— ding dong (@ding dong) 1650903661
Here's the thing: @megynkelly has 'LGB friends' EXACTLY like racists have black friends: they're a non-existent scapegoat to say harmful things about that community.\n\nThe majority of #LGBTQIA ppl do not share the opinion of Kelly's imaginary LGB friends & she knows that.https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1518592991073603585\u00a0\u2026— Tim Peacock (@Tim Peacock) 1650903884
The boogie man the right will latch onto for the next 10 yearshttps://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1518592991073603585\u00a0\u2026— Shaq (@Shaq) 1650905587
Who better to talk about LGBTQ issues with than a racist bigot.https://twitter.com/jasonscampbell/status/1518592991073603585\u00a0\u2026— Richard W. (@Richard W.) 1650913159
Megyn Kelly and her new friend SCrowder trying to spread the narrative that "good" gays and lesbians should not stand together with "the trans" because: *insert the literal arguments they used a hundred years ago to keep white women from showing solidarity with POC's*\n#leftisbesthttps://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1518592991073603585\u00a0\u2026— Rodrigo Salda\u00f1a (@Rodrigo Salda\u00f1a) 1650913237
A common tactic of fascists unironically \n\n"dont trust THOSE people that claim to care about you as they are really your enemy secretly working against your interest"\n\nand then once "they" are dealt with they turn on you and shove you onto a train .... dont trust this rhetorichttps://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1518592991073603585\u00a0\u2026— Voided (@Voided) 1650897659
Bananas. Crowder has always been one of the most unhinged right-wing media types, but to think that six years ago Megyn Kelly was the somewhat reasonable Fox News host ...\nI also remember Trump was afraid of her, so she got that going for her.https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1518592991073603585\u00a0\u2026— GermanNerd \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@GermanNerd \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1650897663
Kelly's remarks came as Crowder complained that the left wing is okay with "biological men beating the hell out of women in their own sports."
In recent months, Republicans across the country have sponsored a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, much of it directed at transgender people.
The legislation is a further example of how transgender issues have recently galvanized the far right, taking a spot at the forefront of attacks conservatives have directed toward the LGBTQ+ community in what has become one of the more defining elements of the culture wars.
Earlier this month, Kentucky Republicans enacted a law that would require parents to show birth certificates for their children to participate in school sports, the latest in a wave of similar legislation.
Crowder also suggested that leftists are putting "children on puberty blockers" against their willl, a claim that goes against established medical science and studies showing that transgender adults with access to puberty blockers as teens were less likely to have suicidal thoughts.
