Media ridicules dissenting views on gender identity, praises those who agree: Analysis

The left-wing media’s adoption of progressive views on gender identity has led to a slew of controversies in recent months, with those who criticize or question certain doctrines pushing activist networks into action in an effort to censure those who do not hold their beliefs. 

The most recent explosive example came during a Tuesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Berkley Law Professor Khiara Bridges engaged in a back and forth over whether men have the ability to became pregnant. 

During her testimony on the potential harms of abortion bans, Bridges kept utilizing the phrase "people with a capacity for pregnancy." At one point, Hawley asked whether she meant "women." Bridges clarified that she was including trans men and non-binary people in the list of individuals who could become pregnant, to which Hawley questioned whether that meant abortion remained an issue of "women’s rights." 

"I want to recognize that your line of questioning is transphobic, and it opens up trans people to violence by not recognizing them," Bridges said, before the two went into further debate on whether questions can illicit violence and who can get pregnant. 

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Left-wing media headlines showered Bridges with praise for her testimony, while simultaneously condemning Hawley. 

"Professor schools Sen. Josh Hawley for his transphobic questions in abortion hearing," a Huffington Post headline read. 

The Washingto Post wrote similarly, claiming that Hawley "refused to acknowledge" that some men can get pregnant. 

Meanwhile, Vox and The Mary Sue called Hawley "transphobic" for his questions, claiming Bridges "rightly" called him out during the hearing. LGBTQ Nation added that Bridges "humiliated" Hawley, though many disagreed with the media’s version of events.

When Fox News Digital reached out to Hawley for comment, he asserted that the media is in "lockstep" with the Democrat Party, and suggested they are "allies."

"If you say men cannot get pregnant, or dare to disagree with their woke delusions of the day, you’re a bigot, and you’re responsible for violence," the senator added.

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The media appears to have gotten in the habit of piling on anybody who questions progressive’s updated language guidelines or beliefs as it pertains to certain groups, even members of the entertainment industry, a workforce that is predominantly left-wing. 

After an appearance on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored last week, singer Macy Gray faced repeated criticism from social justice activists and liberal news outlets for her comments on women and gender-affirming surgery. 

"I will say this, and everyone’s gonna hate me, but as a woman, just because you go change your [body] parts, doesn’t make you a woman, sorry," Gray told Morgan. The singer continued on about how she supports trans rights but does not think transgender women should compete in women’s sports. 

"If you want me to call you a ‘her,’ I will, because that's what you want, but that doesn't make you a woman just because I call you a ‘her’ and just because you got a surgery," Gray added. "A woman goes through a completely unique experience and surgery and finding yourself doesn't change that. Being a little girl is a whole epic book, you know? You can't have that just because you want to be a woman."

The media quickly lunged at Gray, labeling her comments as "transphobic," and "controversial," and some calling her a "TERF" for her remarks. TERF is an acronym for "trans-exclusionary radical feminist," and often describes a woman who asserts that a transgender woman is not actually a woman. 

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"Macy Gray Thinks People ‘Misunderstood’ Her Transphobic Comments. They Didn’t," Rolling Stone writer Tomás Mier proclaimed. 

An MSNBC column published on Thursday asserted that "Bette Midler and Macy Gray’s transphobic comments are bad for women."

Midler, a celebrated gay icon in Hollywood who remains highly critical of former President Donald Trump, also faced a media firestorm after tweeting out a reaction to the overturning of Roe v. Wade that discussed the erasure of women.  

"WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name! They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore; they call us ‘birthing people’ or ‘menstruators’, and even ‘people with vaginas’! Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!" Midler wrote. 

Midler was swiftly knocked for her comments, like Gray, with the media calling her "transphobic," as well as accusing her of promoting "anti-trans nonsense," as Xtra Magazine put it. 

"Self-identified feminists with exclusionary, bigoted politics are a dime a dozen on the internet. But few have been quite as visible and persistent in their regressive views disguised as female empowerment than Midler, whose Twitter account has become one of the most wretched places on the liberal-identifying side of Twitter," The Daily Beast’s Kyndall Cunningham wrote, urging Midler to delete her Twitter. 

Speaking with Fox News Digital, The Spectator contributing editor Stephen L. Miller said that if there is going to be any pushback against the recent "wave of ‘transanity’ in women’s sports and accomplishments" in media, it is going to come from people like Midler and Gray, part of the "feminist left." He added that the "cultural and political right" cannot be the ones to fight this battle. 

"Progressive media largely play to their audience and their audience, as recent polling has shown, is a cabal of academic coastal elites who more and more are ignoring scientific reality in the name of what they label inclusiveness. Except their idea of inclusiveness erases who women are," he also noted. 

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Midler later clarified her remarks after being publicly berated, taking to Twitter to say that she had "no intention" of being exclusionary or transphobic in her initial comments. Several outlets did not take well to her response, and pushed for a full-blown apology, which Midler has not yet given. 

"Bette Midler Clarified Her Anti-Trans Tweet But Didn't Really Apologize At All," a BuzzFeed article read. 

BuzzFeed contributor Alex Gurley claimed in her piece that Midler’s "apology" missed the point, and "didn’t really help anything."

Gray, meanwhile, went on a full apology tour to try and walk back her statements on gender identity. 

In a Thursday appearance on the NBC TODAY show, Gray told host Hoda Kotb that she never meant to "hurt anybody" with her comments, and said that everyone in the LGBTQ community is "a hero." 

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"Being a woman is a vibe, and it’s something I’m very proud of and something that it is very precious to me. I think that if you in your heart feel that’s what you are, then that’s what you are regardless of what anybody says or thinks. I’ve learned a lot and I glad I did, because now I know," she added. 

Vanity Fair reacted to Gray’s apology by calling it a "very public reeducation process."

Gray’s band claimed last week that the NBC TODAY show told them they could not wear their "FREE BRITTNEY GRINER" T-shirts while on set.  

Billy Wes, the keyboardist for the Grammy-nominated R&B singer/songwriter told reporters last Thursday that he was told by TODAY staff that he had to turn his T-shirt "inside out" to hide the words "FREE BRITTNEY GRINER" during the music group's performance. Griner is the U.S. Olympic athlete currently being held in Russia.

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Numerous other figures have also faced intense backlash from social media and left-leaning liberal media outlets for going against left-wing viewpoints, especially gender identity, including comedian Dave Chappelle and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. 

Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.