Tucker Carlson Says There's No Transgender Community

Tucker Carlson and Cathy Areu

A discussion of gender-neutral pronouns leads him to belittle the concept of community.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

April 04 2018 2:45 PM EST

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Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson is outraged by the use of gender-neutral pronouns, and he's gone so far as to say there's no such thing as a transgender community.

On Tuesday's edition of Tucker Carlson Tonight, the host talked with his "Liberal Sherpa," media analyst Cathy Areu, about the proliferation of gender-neutral pronouns such as "ze," "zir," and "yo." Carlson, who has a history of stoking transphobia and homophobia, drew on a list posted online by the LGBTQIA Resource Center at the University of California, Davis, and asked Areu to demonstrate how to use them in sentences, because, he said, "I know very soon I'll be forced to participate at gunpoint."

Areu denied that and calmly went through using the various pronouns. Afterward, Carlson said such pronouns make language "dumber, less precise, and embarrassing." She responded that they make it "smarter, not offensive, and forward-thinking."

"In 50 years, I mean, this is just going to be automatic -- we're not going to think twice," she continued. "The transgender community has embraced this."

"There's no community! What's that even mean?" Carlson interjected, incredulously. He brought up the idea of being involuntarily included in a community and said he doesn't want to be part of any community but his family. Areu emphasized that people can choose to be part of a community, just as they choose their pronouns. Carlson responded that the rules being imposed on society, ostensibly by progressives, are "All change is good" and "Everything is mandatory." Watch the video below, courtesy of Media Matters.