Weekly Recap

John Oliver gets gender wrong, Ulta Beauty belittles women, Microsoft's super inclusive Pride flag, The Rally to End Child Mutilation, the NHS rejects 'gender affirmation,' and more!

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John Oliver Gets Gender Wrong

Last week oh his show Last Week Tonight, comedian John Oliver attempted to add some clarity to the debate surround “gender affirming care,” but instead ended up missing the mark badly. This came only a week after his old boss and former host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart, also commented on the topic, and it is clear that they were both fed almost identical activist talking points to regurgitate.

Given the size of Oliver’s audience and therefore influence, he has a responsibility to take these matters very seriously, especially since the wellbeing of children hangs in the balance. Unfortunately, he decided to forgo the fact-check and took activist's’ word for it. This created a massive headache for those of us who pay close attention to the evidential basis for “gender affirming care,” since it is always much more difficult to untie knots than it is to tie them in the first place, and Oliver created quite a tangled thicket of nonsense.