Mario Lopez has apologized for his comments towards the parenting skills of transgender children, calling them ignorant and insensitive.
On Wednesday (July 31) the former Extra co-host released a statement to Variety and People, how he now has a deeper understanding of his comments. “The comments I made were ignorant and insensitive, and I now have a deeper understanding of how hurtful they were,” he said. “I have been and always will be an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ community, and I am going to use this opportunity to better educate myself. Moving forward I will be more informed and thoughtful.”
Lopez appeared on The Candace Owens Show where they talked about a so-called trend of celebrities allowing their children to “pick their gender.” Both were against the idea of it with Lopez calling the line of parenting “dangerous” and “weird,” and cited a three-year-old as an example.
“Look, I’m never one to tell anyone how to parent their kids, obviously, and I think if you come from a place of love, you really can’t go wrong,” he said. “But at the same time, my God, if you’re 3 years old and you’re saying you’re feeling a certain way, or you think you’re a boy or a girl or whatever the case may be, I just think it’s dangerous as a parent to make that determination then — ‘Okay, well then you’re going to be a boy or a girl,’ whatever the case may be. It’s sort of alarming and my gosh, I just think about the repercussions later on.”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=FSDlx23uiDY%3Fstart%3D649
Many have urged Lopez and many others to inquire education about transgender children as well as understanding the difference between sexuality and gender.
“Medical and psychological experts and parents of children who are transgender have long discredited the ideas that Mario Lopez shared last month,” GLAAD told PEOPLE in a statement. “The real ‘dangerous action’ is when someone with a public platform uses bad science to speak against a marginalized and vulnerable group of children. We spoke with Extra and it is clear that the showrunners do not support or share his view. They will address this issue on the show tonight. Lopez clearly needs a primer on trans issues. We reached out to his team to see if and how he will correct the record.”
Medical and psychological experts, and parents of children who are transgender, have long discredited the ideas that @MarioLopezExtra shared. The real dangerous action is when someone with a public platform uses bad science to speak against a vulnerable group of children. https://t.co/kz2pEMWTBm
— GLAAD (@glaad) July 31, 2019