Men's Health Magazine Attacks Joe Rogan for Giving 'Transphobic Hate Speech' a Platform
“With 25 print editions in 35 countries and more than 21 million readers across its social and digital platforms, Men’s Health is the world’s largest men’s magazine brand, and the number one source of information for and about men.”
At least, that’s how Men’s Health magazine described itself in a “Meet the Editors” posting last October.
Now, when you imagine the pre-eminent voice in men’s health, fitness and fashion reporting, the first thing that comes to mind is likely not breathless pandering to the social justice left’s transgender agenda.
Nonetheless, that happens to be exactly what the publication reduced itself to in its Wednesday coverage, and character assassination, of Joe Rogan.
The comedian and mixed martial arts commentator had hosted writer Abigail Shrier just days prior for a long-form discussion on his sensationally popular video podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
With Shrier being the author of a newly published nonfiction book aimed at revealing the “irreversible damage” caused by early childhood and adolescent gender transition, however, the nearly two-hour-long interview quickly became one of Rogan’s most controversial — a substantial feat considering previous guests and antics welcomed on the podcast.
The appearance of such “transphobia” on one of the internet’s most popular programs sent shockwaves through the LGBT community, deeply offending social justice sensibilities.
But luckily enough for pearl-clutching leftists, Men’s Health “LGBTQ+ issues” columnist Philip Ellis stood ready to take up arms and fight the good fight.
Rogan has a history of platforming divisive voices. Now he’s actively fanning the flames of hate. https://t.co/1PXeelDDxA
— Men’s Health Mag (@MensHealthMag) July 22, 2020
“Joe Rogan is spreading transphobic hate speech and it’s putting lives in danger,” Ellis wrote in his Wednesday article. “Rogan has a history of platforming divisive voices. Now he’s actively fanning the flames of hate.”
Who exactly was put at risk, and how, was left up to the imagination of the reader.
Judging from Ellis’ emphasis on a handful of firm statements and potentially offensive jokes, it would seem the idea is that Shrier and Rogan’s mere willingness to raise concerns regarding the trendiness of gender transition was somehow a call to violence against transgender individuals.
“Shrier invalidated the lived experience of trans and nonbinary kids and teens, and made numerous dangerous, entirely unsound false equivalencies,” Ellis wrote. “She compared transitioning among teenagers to historic adolescent phenomena such as eating disorders, self-harm, and (bafflingly) the occult, calling this age group ‘the same population that gets involved in cutting, demonic possession, witchcraft, anorexia, bulimia.'”
Of course, until recently the American Psychiatric Association and other widely regarded sources in the scientific community had thought of gender confusion as very similar to the conditions mentioned by Shrier, officially classifying the phenomenon as a mental disorder until 2012.
No alterations to the diagnosis or treatment policy were made at the time, however. The change was simply made “to avoid stigma.”
Ellis’ column was devoid of these facts, with the author instead opting to wonder whether Rogan had invited Shrier on in an attempt to spark outrage and generate clicks or out of simple agreement with her.
WARNING: The video below contains vulgar language that some viewers may find offensive:
Rogan’s previous statements, jokes about Caitlyn Jenner and claims that the leftists pushing transgenderism into the mainstream culture may have ulterior motives or agendas, led Ellis to believe it may be the former.
Either way, Ellis is wrong.
The host may appear to be a free thinker, with his willingness to host folks from both sides of the political aisle or his previous endorsement of radical Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders, but in Ellis’ eyes, that’s nothing more than an illusion.
Money and mockery, apparently, are Rogan’s only logical motivators.
“Rogan likes to put on a furrowed brow and even, pensive voice; the hallmarks of a reasonable man with an inquisitive mind. Someone who is ‘just asking questions’ or ‘wants to start a debate,’ Ellis wrote. “In reality, he’s an intellectual shock jock who amplifies the voices of conspiracy theorists, white supremacists, homophobes, and transphobes in the name of interesting conversation.”
I guess free thought and gracefully conducted political dialogue really are that unthinkable to the social justice left.
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