HBO host Bill Maher accused the U.S. medical establishment of being "afraid" to admit that it has gone too far in allowing minors to undergo gender-altering treatment.
Maher made the statement during the latest episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher," noting that American physicians’ acceptance of gender-affirming care has put the medical establishment here "behind" those in the U.K. and in Scandinavian countries, which have recently re-evaluated such treatments and outlawed in many instances.
"This is so, to me, symbolic of so much of woke excess, by thinking you’re so progressive you’re actually behind," Maher said, accusing the U.S. of becoming less sophisticated than the other countries on this subject.
The host brought up a recent landmark U.K. medical study led by Dr. Hillary Cass, a prominent British pediatrician. After conducting an independent review on gender-affirming care services for children and teens in 2020, the study published its results in March, which indicated there is "no good evidence" for the medical push to transition children's gender, noting the effort had been "built on shaky foundations."
That same month, England’s National Health Service banned the use of puberty blockers for children seeking treatment for gender dysphoria, and ordered the London-based gender identity clinic at the Tavistock and Portman Trust to shut its doors amid safety concerns.
The Cass Review was also cited in a draft document from U.K.’s Department of Education which is set to mandate that concepts of gender identity will not be taught to U.K. students until they reach secondary school.
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Additionally, Scandinavian countries Sweden, Finland, and Denmark have heavily restricted gender-related medical procedures among children.
Maher cited these countries as examples demonstrating that the U.S. is now "way behind" the consensus thanks to its "woke excess."
"In the U.K., they are now pronouncing the United States as way behind. It’s just so, to me, symbolic of so much woke excess – by thinking you’re so progressive you’re actually behind," he said.
Quoting the Cass study, he said, "’The reality is that we have no good evidence on the long term outcomes or interventions to manage gender-related distress in kids.’ These are kids who want to switch sex. ‘For most young people, a medical pathway may not be the best way. There’s no clear evidence that social transition in childhood has any positive or negative mental health outcomes."
Providing commentary, he continued, "So, in other words, by trying to be so far ahead, the United States — and this is not just England, this is all the Scandinavian countries, they’ve all pulled back on this – to me, this says a lot about where we went and hopefully, we’re getting back to some place sane."
"Because, yes, I don’t think we should be doing medical interventions on kids before they can figure out who they are," he added, to audience applause.
Guest panelist New York Times columnist Pamela Paul expressed her hope that the U.S. will come to the same conclusions as these European studies, but remarked that "the medical establishment, the major medical associations, are staying mum or digging in."
"Right. They’re afraid," Maher replied.
Fox News Digital's Hannah Grossman, Taylor Penley and Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.
