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Molly Kearney, Nonbinary SNL Star, Shares (Literal) Uplifting Message with Trans Kids
Molly Kearney, Nonbinary SNL Star, Shares (Literal) Uplifting Message with Trans Kids
"I've been hung up on my genitals for far too long, and I'm starting to feel like a freakin' Republican lawmaker!," Kearney said.
Saturday Night Live tackled in its recent episode the swath of anti-trans bills currently being passed by state legislatures across the U.S. The show's first nonbinary cast member, Molly Kearney, literally dropped in on the show's Weekend Update segment to lambast Republican lawmakers on their obsession with targeting trans people, especially trans youth.
Weekend Update co-anchor Michael Che introduced Kearney as they were lowered in a flying harness to laughs from Che and the audience.
During his introduction, Che mentioned that there have been more than 400 bills targeting trans people in the U.S. this year alone.
"I'm not gonna lie: This harness is pretty tight," Kearney said. "I've been hung up on my genitals for far too long, and I'm starting to feel like a freakin' Republican lawmaker!"
Che responds that there have been more than 14 states that have blocked gender-affirming care for transgender kids.
Keaney replied, "Listen to that Michael — restricting healthcare for kids. For some reason, there's something about the word 'trans' that makes people forget the word, 'kids.' If you don't care about trans kids' lives, that means you don't care about freakin' kids' lives."
The comedian then quipped about their pronouns, saying that they were hanging up in the rafters "longer than I would have liked."
"At one point I heard a crew guy say, 'Is she gonna die up there?' And then another crew guy was like, ' You mean, are they going to die up there?'" Kearney said.
They continued: "And then they both walked away and didn't help...which feels a lot how trans people are being treated right now."
"People need to wake up. We're making trans kids grow up too fast. We should be keeping them safe, and we need to lift them up," Kearney said before being lifted back into the air.
They then turned their message directly to trans kids: "What's happening, kids, is wrong, and you don't need to be scared. Our job is to protect you and your job is to focus on being a kid. It's kind of like me flying in the SNL sky. There's a bunch of dudes asking you about your crotch and controlling when and where you're allowed to be, but if you just hang on, you'll look up and realize you're flying, kid."
Watch the clip below.
