On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher argued that the solution in the debate over gender transitioning for children “can’t always be that anyone from a marginalized community is automatically right,” “Because we’re literally experimenting on children.” And “Weighing trade-offs is not bigotry.” He further argued, “If we can’t admit that, in certain enclaves, there is some level of trendiness to the idea of being anything other than straight, then this is not a serious, science-based discussion, it’s a blow being struck in the culture wars using children as cannon fodder.”

Maher said, “If something about the human race is changing at a previously unprecedented rate, we have to at least discuss it. Broken down over time, the LGBT population of America seems to be roughly doubling every generation. According to a recent Gallup poll, less than 1% of Americans born before 1946 — that’s Joe Biden’s generation — identify that way, 2.6% of Boomers do, 4.2% of Gen X, 10.5% of Millennials, and 20.8% of Gen Z. Which means if we follow this trajectory, we will all be gay in 2054. … I’m just saying that when things change this much, this fast, people are allowed to ask, what’s up with that?”

He later added, “[I]t’s okay to ask questions about something that’s very new and involves children. The answer can’t always be that anyone from a marginalized community is automatically right, trump card, mic drop, end of discussion. Because we’re literally experimenting on children. Maybe that’s why Sweden and Finland have stopped giving puberty blockers to kids. Because we just don’t know much about the long-term effects, although common sense should tell you that when you reverse the course of raging hormones, there’s going to be problems. We do know it hinders the development of bone density — which is kind of important if you like having a skeleton — fertility and the ability to have an orgasm seem also to be affected. This isn’t just a lifestyle decision. It’s medical. Weighing trade-offs is not bigotry.”

Maher further stated, “Yes, part of the rise in LGBT numbers is from people feeling free enough to tell it to a pollster, and that’s all to the good. But some of it is, it’s trendy. Penis equals man? Okay, Boomer. Remember, the prime directive of every teen is, anything to shock and challenge the squares who brought you up. It’s why nobody gets a nose ring at 56. And if you haven’t noticed that, with kids, doing something for the likes is more important than their own genitals, you haven’t been paying attention. Dr. Erica Anderson is a prominent 71-year-old clinical psychologist who is herself transgender and who now says, ‘I think it’s gone too far.’ The L.A. Times summarizes, she’s ‘come to believe that some children identifying as trans are falling under the influence of their peers and social media[.]’ If you attend a small dinner party of typically very liberal, upper-income Angelinos, it is not uncommon to hear parents who each have a trans kid having a conversation about that. What are the odds of that happening in Youngstown, Ohio? If this spike in trans children is all natural, why is it regional? Either Ohio is shaming them or California is creating them. It’s like that day we suddenly all needed bottled water all the time. If we can’t admit that, in certain enclaves, there is some level of trendiness to the idea of being anything other than straight, then this is not a serious, science-based discussion, it’s a blow being struck in the culture wars using children as cannon fodder. I don’t understand parents who won’t let their nine-year-old walk to the corner without a helmet, an EpiPen, and a GPS tracker, and God forbid their lips touch dairy, but hormone blockers and genital surgery? Fine.”

He concluded, “And never forget children are impressionable and very, very stupid. Kids don’t know why mom drinks every day or why dad has two cell phones. Maybe the boy who thinks he’s a girl is just gay or whatever Frasier was. Maybe the girl who hates ‘girly stuff’ just needs to learn that being female doesn’t mean you have to act like a Kardashian. Maybe childhood makes you sad sometimes and there are other solutions besides hand me the dick saw. And look, I’m sure the vast majority of parents do not take this lightly and that it’s very hard to know when something is real or just a phase and I understand being trans is different, it’s innate. But kids do also have phases. They’re kids. It’s all phases. The dinosaur phase, the Hello Kitty phase, one day they want to be an astronaut, the next day, you can’t get them to leave their room. Genderfluid? Kids are fluid about everything. If kids knew what they wanted to be at age eight, the world would be filled with cowboys and princesses. I wanted to be a pirate, thank God nobody took me seriously and scheduled me for eye removal and peg leg surgery.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett