Mario Lopez Faces Online Backlash After Saying It's "Dangerous" For Parents To Support Trans Kids
Lopez has issued an apology after his comments and the ensuing backlash went viral.
Visiting 'The Candace Owens Show'
Mario Lopez is facing scrutiny after making insensitive remarks during an interview on PragerU's. web series The Candace Owens Show.
In a discussion about parenting, Owens went off on the "weird trend" of Hollywood parents supporting their children's right to come out as trans, citing Charlize Theron specifically. Owens said,
"I am trying to understand this new Hollywood mentality where they just think their children now have the mental authority."
He Is Clearly Not An Expert
Lopez responded that he too was trying to understand this "trend," and he probably should have just let this one go.
"I am trying to understand it myself, and please don’t lump me into that whole [group]. I’m kind of blown away too. Look, I’m never one to tell anyone how to parent their kids obviously and I think if you come from a place of love, you really can’t go wrong but at the same time, my God, if you're 3 years old and you’re saying you’re feeling a certain way or you think you’re a boy or a girl or whatever the case may be, I just think it's dangerous as a parent to make this determination then, well, OK, then you’re going to a boy or a girl, whatever the case may be ... It's sort of alarming and my gosh, I just think about the repercussions later on."
Backlash Online
Lopez continued, mistakenly conflating gender and sexuality.
"When you’re a kid ... you don’t know anything about sexuality yet. You’re just a kid... I think parents need to allow their kids to be kids but at the same time, you gotta be the adult in the situation. Pause with that and — I think the formative years is when you start having those discussions and really start making these 'declarations.'"
These comments didn't go down well online, with members of the LGBT community and parents of LGBT kids suggesting that Lopez should stay in his lane.
Issuing An Apology
In the same interview, Lopez also criticized the #BelieveWomen movement, citing the fact that sometimes people lie.
"[It's a] dangerous hashtag because people lie and sometimes those people are women. God forbid you have a son out there and a girl may have felt a certain way about a situation — dismissed, hurt, whatever, and is feeling vengeful and just decides to tell a certain story that’s not even exactly true, come back and hurt that individual."
Lopez has since apologized for the interview, calling his comments "ignorant and insensitive."
