The Daily Show 's Jaboukie Young-White Sharply Addresses the Jussie Smollett Investigation

Jaya Saxena
Damage would require "anyone to have cared about queer people, specifically queer black people, in the first place."

This ongoing Jussie Smollett investigation is hard to watch. Whatever the outcome—whether he faked it or didn't, whether the Chicago PD is lying or not—plenty of damage has already been done. Most upsettingly, people are going to use this moment to justify believing that black people and the LGBTQ community are lying about the violence and discrimination they face every day. And it's hard for many people to admit that giving victims the benefit of the doubt might mean dealing with stories like this one (and, please note, that that shouldn't dissuade anyone from believing victims).

Last night, The Daily Show managed to start untangling this mess with humor and kindness in a segment with correspondent Jaboukie Young-White, about what it's like to be black, gay... and an actor.

Young-White starts off by saying how perfect this story would be for Lifetime with all its weird details, like Trump supporters who apparently watch Empire, and a death threat made of cut-out magazine letters like it's the 1990s. But then he and Noah get into what effect this will have on victims of "real hate crimes." The consensus? Not much, since it would require "anyone to have cared about queer people, specifically queer black people, in the first place."

Young-White also brings up the "Gay/Trans Panic Defense," a legally admissible defense allowed in 47 states in which people can get lighter sentences for murder if they claim the victim was gay or trans and hit on them. "Imagine if women could use that defense?" he asks. "There'd be no men left."

Regardless of how this story ends, that's the thing to remember: LGBTQ people of color don't just face discrimination from bigoted citizens, but from the law. Oh, and like he suggests, that Young-White would absolutely play a great Smollett in any future TV adaptation.