'The Daily Show' Offers Must-See Takedown Of 'The Trans Panic Epidemic'

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"The Daily Show" took aim last night at American lawmakers' and religious leaders' war on transgender people in a brilliant clip that brought together a group of eight different trans activists to talk about their experiences.

Jessica Williams helmed the segment, which was pegged to the recent wave of anti-trans legislation passed in states like North Carolina and Mississippi.

"The Trans Panic Epidemic" opens with the story of Meagan Taylor, a black trans woman who was arrested in Iowa last year simply for trying to check into a hotel as a trans person. Her story serves as a point of entry into the policing and regulation trans people experience, often on a daily basis.

The latter half of the segment includes an interview with the ridiculously (and just plain ridiculous) anti-trans Colorado Representative Gordon Klingenschmitt, as well as a panel with eight prominent trans activists.

"Hopefully [people] can realize that we're striving towards becoming a more authentic version of ourselves after a lot of soul searching and a lot of thought and sometimes a lot of trauma and tragedy," one activist notes.

Williams spends much of the clip exasperated by the -- we have to call it what it is -- just plain stupidity used to fuel this war against trans people and does a stunning job of pointing how inhumane and absurd this bigotry is. 

While the segment may seem fairly "Trans 101" for those well-versed in trans issues and experiences, it's amazing to see such a nuanced analysis of the implications of this "trans panic" on television and we're grateful for it (and it doesn't hurt that it's hilarious too).
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