Trump sycophant thinks Demi Lovato inspired a ‘woke mob’ to cancel International Women’s Day. This is not a parody
(OAN/Handout/Biden Inaugural Committee via Getty Images )
A Conservative news network seems to genuinely think the “woke folks on the left” are going to cancel International Women’s Day because Demi Lovato said gender reveal parties are transphobic.
In an episode of Real America with Dan Ball, presenter Dan Ball said the show would be celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) by showcasing “strong Conservative females”. He then explained this was important to do because the “woke, cancel culture mob” might “get rid” of IWD in the future because the “science” around gender identity is “under attack”.
He proceeded to highlight singer Demi Lovato as part of the “woke” mob. Lovato said, in a post on Instagram, that she thinks gender reveal parties are transphobic, and the events sometimes “fuel the mistreatment of all people”.
Ball said he wanted to show the post as an example of “the latest nonsense from these woke folks on the left when it comes to gender”. Throughout the show, which runs on the One America News Network, he said he’s just “following the science” like “they [the woke/left] want us to do when it comes to COVID, climate control and blah blah blah”.
“So the science tells me: boy, girl,” Ball said.
He then called out Lovato because he’s “pretty sure” he’s seen “gay couples” “do gender reveal parties” in addition to straight couples. As he was reading Lovato’s Instagram post, Ball also questioned “who’s being violent” towards trans people.
He also said that a “scientific study” – he did not specify which study, which publication or what accredited body undertook the study – showed that “trans people have one or multiple mental disorders”.
“That’s following the science,” he claimed.
Bobby Lewis, a researcher for Media Matters for America, condemned Ball’s segment, especially the “wildly bigoted” idea that trans people “have one or more mental disorders”. Lewis wrote on Twitter: “The implication of which is obvious bulls**t, but also mental disorders are very common, more so in people whose very existence get militant opposition”.
lurking in there is the wildly bigoted quote "scientific studies show that trans people have one or more mental disorders", the implication of which is obvious bullshit, but also mental disorders are very common, moreso in people whose very existence gets militant opposition
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) March 9, 2021
One person wrote Ball’s segment was “way worse than Fox or Newsmax”, adding “that’s an insane level of transphobia to put on TV”.
Wow. Way way worse than Fox or Newsmax, that's an insane level of transphobia to put on tv.— Rob McIntosh Sr. (@RobMcintoshSR) March 9, 2021
It does not appear that Dan Ball is, indeed, ‘following the science’
The American Psychological Association (APA) – the leading scientific and professional organisation representing psychology in the US – has said that being trans is not a “mental disorder”.
The body stated that “transgender and gender non-binary identities and expressions are healthy” and that “incongruence between one’s sex and gender is neither pathological nor a mental disorder”.
Jennifer F Kelly, president of the APA, said there is a “growing body of research” that shows that transgender or non-binary gender identities are “normal variations in human expression of gender”.
Ball may not have also been aware of the large amounts of violence against trans people because it is often not reported on American news outlets. An analysis of by Media Matters found news outlets in the US spent less than an hour covering anti-trans violence in 2020.
This is despite the fact 44 transgender or gender non-conforming people died in 2020 by violent means, making it the deadliest year on record for the community.
Reports from MSNBC accounted for more than half of the total coverage of anti-trans violence across all platforms in 2020. MSNBC dedicated 31 minutes to covering anti-trans violence over the course of the year.
Every other network covered the topic for six minutes or less.
