In “SuperNature,” released Tuesday on the streaming service, Gervais jokes about “old-fashioned women. They're the ones with wombs.”
He then imagines a conversation with such a woman who objects to sharing a restroom with a trans woman. “They are ladies, look at their pronouns. What about this person isn't a lady?” Gervais said, supplying the response: “Well, his penis.”
In the hourlong special, Gervais defended his remarks as equal-opportunity humor and not a reflection of his views on trans or other rights. But transgender and LGBTQ defenders fired back, with
“We watched the Ricky Gervais ‘comedy’ special on
”The LGBTQ community and our allies have made it very clear that so-called comedians who spew hate in place of humor, and the media companies who give them a platform, will be held accountable,"
She cited a 2015 organization survey that found 54% of those in kindergarten through 12th grade who were out or perceived as transgender were verbally harassed, 24% were physically attacked and 13% were sexually assaulted.
Such unfunny attempts at humor “give people permission to discriminate, harass and even commit violence,” Rangel said in a statement.
Last year, Chappelle and
In an Instagram video last October, Chappelle blamed the media for framing the dispute as him versus the LGBTQ community, and said the controversy was “about corporate interest and what I can say and what I cannot say.”
Gervais is familiar to audiences as a repeat host of the Golden Globes. He's an Emmy-winner for his role in the comedy “Extras” and as a producer of “The Office,” based on the original British series of the same name that he co-created.
His trans mockery comes early in the “SuperNature” special, in which he also targets Asians and the Holocaust, among others. At a later point, he defends his approach by dismissing the idea that “a joke is a window into a comedian's true soul.”
“That's just not the case. I'll take on any view to make the joke funny. I’ll pretend to be right wing, I'll pretend to be left-wing. ... Full disclosure: Of course I support trans rights. I support all human rights. And trans rights are human rights,” he said.
“Live your best life. use your preferred pronouns, be the gender that you feel that you are,” Gervais said — then added another trans-directed punchline.
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