Actor and television personality Mario Lopez has come under fire for comments he made about gender during a June interview on the “Candace Owens Show” for conservative outlet PragerU.
“I’m never one to tell anyone how to parent,” Lopez said on the trending topic of celebrity babies being encouraged to choose their own gender.
“But … my God, if you’re three years old and you’re saying you’re feeling a certain way, and you think you’re a boy or girl, or whatever the case may be, I just think it’s dangerous as a parent to make that determination then: ‘OK! — you’re going to be a boy or a girl or whatever the case may be,'” he answered.
Though the interview took place over a month ago, on Wednesday Twitter users and members of the media reacted to Lopez’s resurfaced comments with scathing criticism. News aggregator Yahoo! led with, “Mario Lopez: It’s ‘dangerous’ for parents to support transgender children.”
Comedian Kathy Griffin slammed Lopez as being a long-time perpetrator of ‘backward nonsense.’
“Can confirm he has thought this way for many years,” Griffin tweeted, “Sat next to him and civilly argued these points several years ago when we were working on a TV show together. He’s dug in with this backward nonsense. Told me I didn’t get it because it was a ‘Latin thing.'”
Can confirm he has thought this way for many years. Sat next to him and civilly argued these points several years ago when we were working on a TV show together. He’s dug in with this backward nonsense. Told me I didn’t get it because it was a “Latin thing”?
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) July 31, 2019
Star of Queer Eye Karamo Brown also disparaged Lopez’s take on young children selecting against their biological gender.
“I’m disappointed to read @MarioLopezExtra comments about parent’s who support their child’s openes about their gender identity,” Brown said, “As a social worker I am trained to identify abuse or neglect of a child. Healthy & safe dialogue w/ kids is neither abusive, neglectful or ‘dangerous.'”
I’m disappointed to read @MarioLopezExtra comments about parent’s who support their child’s openes about their gender identity. As a social worker I am trained to identify abuse or neglect of a child. Healthy & safe dialogue w/ kids is neither abusive, neglectful or “dangerous.” https://t.co/aTkL2sLm4u
— Karamo Brown (@Karamo) July 31, 2019
Mario Lopez’s comments are dangerous to the safety and well-being of LGBTQ youth, especially trans children who deserve to be loved and accepted for who they are. https://t.co/iRBwyobelf
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) July 31, 2019
Lopez, who currently stars as a host on E! Television was primarily known for his work on Saved by the Bell in the ’80s and ’90s and Dancing With the Stars more recently. The actor, 45, also received criticism on Wednesday for his remarks about believing women who accuse men of sexual assault with no corroborating evidence.
In the same “Candace Owens” interview, the conversation steered toward the power of hashtags on social media.
“I think blanket statements or hashtags like #believewomen … [is] a very dangerous hashtag … because people lie and sometimes those people are women,” Lopez said, “and God forbid, you have a son out there and a girl may have felt a certain way about a situation, dismissed, hurt, whatever, and is feeling vengeful and just decides to tell a certain story that’s not exactly true, come back and really hurt that individual.”
“And if we’re just supposed to assume she’s telling the truth without any sort of proof, evidence … then that’s incredibly dangerous,” the actor concluded.
While Lopez received plenty of criticism for his remarks on Wednesday, he also found support from people who didn’t find that he said anything wrong or even controversial.
#IStandWithMarioLopez was trending on Wednesday afternoon.
“Mario Lopez is correct, 3-year old children should not be making life-altering decisions about their gender. Not sure why this is a controversial opinion to have…” said author Brigitte Gabriel.
A person’s mind isn’t even fully developed until they are 25.
Yet we have people advocating to place children on hormone therapy to transition even before puberty.
Let kids be kids and decide their own future as adults.
I stand with @MarioLopezExtra !#MarioLopez
— Anna Paulina (@realannapaulina) July 31, 2019
Mario Lopez is correct, 3-year old children should not be making life-altering decisions about their gender.
Not sure why this is a controversial opinion to have…
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) July 31, 2019
Others offered their support with a pinch of sarcasm.
“Mario Lopez is a transphobic bigot who doesn’t think 3 year olds can opt to have a sex change. Can you just imagine? And he doesn’t think you should automatically believe every rape allegation you hear without first looking at the case. What an absolute misogynist,” one user said.
Mario Lopez is a transphobic bigot who doesn’t think 3 year olds can opt to have a sex change. Can you just imagine? And he doesn’t think you should automatically believe every rape allegation you hear without first looking at the case. What an absolute misogynist.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 31, 2019
Others just offered support to the actor for stating his beliefs.
I agree with @MarioLopezExtra, just for the record.
— Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) July 31, 2019
Despite the positive enforcement, by late Wednesday afternoon Lopez issued a statement largely taking back his initial sentiments.
“The comments I made were ignorant and insensitive, and I now have a deeper understanding of how hurtful they were,” he said in the Wednesday statement. “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.”
