Students walk out during Jerry Seinfeld’s commencement speech at Duke
Students walk out during Jerry Seinfeld’s commencement speech at Duke
Some students could be heard booing as they waved Palestinian flags
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Seinfeld has publicly supported Israel following the 7 October Hamas attack, and traveled to a kibbutz in December to meet with hostages’ families
In case you're wondering what the argument is. You should still read the story though.
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That's the biggest part of the reason, but there's also the fact that he's been complaining about how the 'woke left' has destroyed comedy. That's not exactly going to endear him to young adults either.
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Also, the whole reason he's complaining about comedy being destroyed is that he hasn't been relevant in over 25 years. So even ignoring everything, he's some boring old dude that hasn't been that relevant the entire life of most of the graduates. They selected someone that the staff might be impressed by, but not someone that is vaguely interesting for the actual graduates.
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Seinfeld has publicly supported Israel following the 7 October Hamas attack, and traveled to a kibbutz in December to meet with hostages’ families. He has been “uncharacteristically vocal” about his support during press calls for his new film, Unfrosted, *The New York Times *reported.
The comedian, who was receiving an honorary degree from Duke, largely stayed away from the issue at the centre of the protests during his speech. At one point, he mentioned his Jewish heritage which was met with applause from the crowd.
“I grew up a Jewish boy from New York,” he said. “That is a privilege if you want to be a comedian.”
Outside Duke’s stadium on the Durham campus, Gaza-supporting students chanted: “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
A bit more context
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Seinfelds wife also donated to the riot mob throwing fireworks into the UCLA pro palestine camp
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/jessica-seinfeld-bill-ackman-fund-200308497.html
Jessica Seinfeld, cookbook author and wife to comedian Jerry Seinfeld, is funding a pro-Israel counterprotest at UCLA—where violence broke out Tuesday night after a mob attacked demonstrators inside a pro-Palestine encampment.
A GoFundMe for the effort, which Seinfeld promoted in an Instagram story this week after contributing at least $5,000, has since made the majority of its donations anonymous. The fundraising page has raised more than $93,000 as of Wednesday and also changed its organizer name and description since launching over the weekend.
“I just gave to this GoFundMe to support more allies like yesterday’s at UCLA,” Seinfeld wrote this week. “More cities are being planned so please give what you can. Donations are annonymous [sic]. We will continue to share our light and love, as proud American Jews.”
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Yup this is the reason I expected students would've walked out of his speech, not just because he used to date underage girls.
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His wife also donated to and promoted a GoFundMe to fund the violent counterprotestors at UCLA
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I thought it was because of his pedophilic commentary about teenage girls.
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I find it funny that everyone assumed they walked out over Gaza, while I assumed it was because Jerry Seinfeld isn't funny.
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The guy who said woke (aka not self centered sociopaths) have ruined comedy even though his partner on Seinfeld has had a wildly successful hit comedy series burning everyone for like eight years?
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8 years? Try 24 years of Curb your Enthusiasm and it was glorious.
Also Always Sunny in Philadelphia exists and proves Seinfeld wrong as well.
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does anyone under 40 watch Curb?
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I'm sure you can look up the demographics but I'm not sure how it would change the point
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Me. I watch curb and I'm in my 20s
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I started watching at like age 20. This is a bad take.
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Wow. Those protestors are so violent. Call the riot squad!
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Anti-semites!¡
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Tbh I'm glad and support their reasoning but I would have walked out on Seinfeld even if he had no connection to Israel just because he's an entitled smug bag of shit
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Also a pedophile
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He's never even been all that funny. I've always seen his entire shtick as making fun of bad comedians through imitation.
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Permanently Deleted
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The bee movie guy?
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yeah, the guy who dated a 17 year old in his 30s.
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39-year-old Jerry Seinfeld with his 17-year-old girlfriend Shoshanna Lonstein in 1993
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Tomorrow he's going to complain about being "cancelled" and how he "can't say things anymore" while talking about the event where he was invited to speak in front of a college full of students.
You can say whatever you want, people don't have to listen.
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Exactly. Plus the right to free speech doesn't equate to being free from criticism, or as you said, general disinterest.
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The supreme Court has described it as freedom of speech not being freedom from speech.
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tomorrow he
no he's not, this is a nothing burger that has nothing at all to do with his comedy
invited
be mad at the people who invited him if you're going to be outraged at something.
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Love his TV show but unfortunately he's a dick IRL.
https://consequence.net/2024/05/jerry-seinfeld-pro-palestine-students-duke/
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Ever since be took Leno‘s side in the Tonight Show feud between Leno and Conan, he became non redeemable to me.
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That's like the least bad thing he's done.
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Nothing is obligating you to respond this way other than some amount of respect you have for this bigot. DONT sugar coat your ability to look the other way in the face of bigotry.
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I can't help but notice all the comedians who complain about society being took woke for comedy are has-beens. John Stewart's back to crushing it at the Daily Show, is he complaining? No, it's only the guys who've run out of material and have nothing left to do but shake their canes at gen Z kids.
I challenge anyone to go to the "good old days" and find me a comedian who was actually funny and not just being an edgelord. You know who the most popular comedian was in the 80s? Andrew Dice Clay. That's right. That's was peak comedy, dirty nursery rhymes. Sure, I get that some people are nostalgic. But let's be serious for a minute - do we really wanna go back to that kind of comedic void?
Society hasn't gotten too woke, rather comedic standards have evolved to the point where merely being offensive in itself no longer counts as comedy.
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I challenge anyone to go to the "good old days" and find me a comedian who was actually funny and not just being an edgelord.
The master himself. George Carlin. We could debate whether he was an edge lord or not. But his comedy was timeless and remains hysterical to this day. And his funniest bits were based on observation of the human condition.
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Carlin also re-invented himself with the times. The comedy he did in the 60s was entirely different from the comedy he did in the 90s.
Jerry Seinfeld is still doing the same comedy he did in the 80s.
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Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, and Jim Carrey all seemed like they had really good specials. I haven't watched them in a long time, but I don't recall them being edge lords. I'm sure there have to be others.
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Is George Carlin considered an edgelord?
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He was, back in the day, his anti-authoritarian bent was pretty edgy then
Tangentially: I tried getting into him a few years ago and it seemed tame and nothing I hadn’t heard before from so many other comedians. Then I realized that he was the vanguard of that style of comedy and of course it’s going to sound like retrodden ground if I’d heard all the people he’d influenced before I listened to him.
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I mean to be honest, yes. How many times have you seen someone really laugh their ass off at George Carlin? Being an edgelord doesn't mean you're wrong necessarily, it means you're being edgy for being edgy's sake. And that was kind of Carlin's thing. The joy you get from watching 7 Dirty Words is more from watching something bordering on an act of civil disobedience than from any actual ha-ha-funny stuff in the routine.
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This shit couldn't be more off base lmao.
Not only have many greats been listed in response to you, you also have relevant comedians today bitching about "woke" as you call it.
Is Bill Burr an edge lord has-been? Chapelle? Jon Stewart has mentioned this as well. Honestly, I think the meme of "YoU cAnT sAy tHiNgS aNyMoRe" is in over half of standups I watch.
A huge portion of comedians mention this at some point.
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Chappelle I'll grant you, but I'd put Chappelle in the category with Seinfeld of a once super-popular comedian who has passed his prime, and now just shakes his cane at Gen Z in frustration instead of creating new material.
As for Bill Burr and John Stewart:
Bill Burr Stuns Bill Maher by Declaring Cancel Culture ‘Over’
Jon Stewart Is "So Fucking Sick" of "Anti-Woke" Culture: "I've Lost Two Words in 35 Years"There's a difference between thinking cancel culture has gone too far and complaining endlessly that it has "ruined comedy". One is an opinion, the other is an excuse.
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Emo Philips
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Emo Philips
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I honestly never understood the attraction to Seinfeld.
There were a few good jokes in there but the whole show was about them being assholes and proud of it.
They're selfish, judgemental and entitled. They're constantly mocking and bullying other people and each other. The final episode even lays it out explicitly.
Shows like "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", "Married... With Children" or "Breaking Bad" have various unsavory characters but we're invited to reject these flaws or at least identify with them as flaws.
Seinfeld is shameless about being an asshole and pretends the rest of us are just too dumb to understand his genius.
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I think you're missing the point of these shows and that's okay.
The characters aren't role models, they are your intrusive thoughts manifest. If you didn't hear someone's name when they told you, any rational person would just say it was loud and they didn't hear you. They wouldnt go through lengths of introducing friends, finding out childhood taunts and rifling through your belongings in an attempt to save face.
The joke is in the breaking of social norms. A show about people being polite to each other doesn't make for very good comedy.
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That's exactly my point. None of the characters in these shows are role models. We can sympathize with the Bundy's or their neighbors but the show makes it obvious that nobody wants to emulate them. We can understand why Walther White did the things he does even if it's clear that he shouldn't have. The gang in Philly is all about showing us the worst possible decision in any given situation.
Seinfeld, on the other hand, celebrates their behavior. It canonizes our intrusive thoughts as though they were a more authentic form of expression.
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Archer. Archer is the perfect genius asshole protagonist.
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I think you have a fundamentally different view than I do on the characters. They are all fundamentally nice people. The difference is, they get fixated on small issues, and let it control their actions. Jerry dates a woman that only looks good in bright light? Only go on dates that have good lighting. It is something you would want to do too, but you would have the control to not let it run the relationship. Jerry doesn't have that control, and focuses on the good lighting at the expense of everything else.
The characters aren't mean. They didn't wish I'll on anyone. Many of the episodes are them trying to find a way to get out of a situation without being honest because they think the truth would hurt too. Idiots, yes, not not jerks.
For another example. There is an episode where a waiter accidentally puts a menu on a candle and it lights on fire. George points it out, puts the fire out, and casually mentions "I think the busboy put the menu too close to the candle." The manager overhears this, and fires the busboy. George then finds the busboy to try and help him get another job, but leaves the front door open, and the busboy's cat escapes. It is the perfect example of what the characters are. They don't want to hurt people, and go to extreme lengths to do it, even though it always backfires.
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I think you have a fundamentally different view than I do on the characters. That's clearly true :)
Even when the characters behave reasonably I always felt that they were motivated more by the potential for public embarrassment than by moral concern.
It's hard for me to think of George as a fundamentally nice. This is the guy who shoved children and elderly out of the way when he saw smoke, goaded an alcoholic into relapsing because he felt left out, constantly lied to get advantage in situations and even tried to kill a guy out of jealousy.
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I found that the clowning/assholery in Seinfeld was just too close to plausible to clock as humor most of the time, while picking on small and petty things; it's a little too real. I don't think that comes from conceit, but rather, a generation gap and all the insensitivity that comes with it. Just add a little casual violence and it's peak boomer-era humor. That said, Seinfield was its best when the stories were less believable and cruel.
The other shows you cite put these humor beats way over the top which is far more paletteable, IMO.
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You have to have grown up with it and gained an unconditional love of the characters. You don't care that they are an asshole to a character you don't like.
Look at Kramer he is so stupid he can't figure out a washing machine! Lol he's going to try to pour a bunch of detergent in next and act like he's drunk because he's that stupid! He's so funny!
Edit: Remembered it wrong. He was pouring concrete into the washing machine. Classic asshole
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The characters in Seinfeld are shameless, but like with IASIP, they usually get burned at the end of the episode. And that continued over Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry is petty and self-centered, he never learns, karma gets him in the last 30 seconds and then the Tuba drops - BUM BUM BUM.
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Weird choice of quotes and headlines:
From the OP article:
"He has been “uncharacteristically vocal” about his support during press calls for his new film, Unfrosted, The New York Times reported."
From the NYT link in the quote:
"As Mr. Seinfeld, who has recently been vocal about his support for Israel, received an honorary degree, dozens of students walked out and chanted, “Free, free Palestine,” while the comedian looked on and smiled tensely"
But when you go to the link to the NY Times article that references Mr. Seinfeld as being recently vocal about his support of Israel, one of the concluding comments in the article is:
Surely, Mr. Seinfeld sees it differently. His public comments have largely avoided geopolitical specifics, dwelling little on the choices of the Netanyahu government or prospective conditions for a cease-fire.
And he can still sound hesitant even in recent discussions about the Jewishness of “Seinfeld” — which an NBC executive once described as “too New York, too Jewish.”
Nothing about this makes me think Seinfield is a a strong supported of the war. Support for Israel after the attack can be a lot of things and does not mean pro Netanyahu war machine.
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Confusiong riches and fame for brains. Classic mistake
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CoMeDy Is DeAd.
No. We’re just through with your bigotry disguised as humor.
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That wasn't it at all.
The only people who left were pro-palestine nutjobs and there weren't even that many of them
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"The people doing this boycott are just anti-Rhodesia nutjobs and there aren't even that many." -some jackass in 1975
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why was he even invited?
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In 2010 or so I went to Cornell for the graduation ceremony of a family member of mine from their business school. The keynote speaker was Rudy Giuliani. His speech about living life with integrity really aged well lol.
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Alum, maybe?
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What did he say?
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It wasn’t about the commencement speech
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literally nothing. the only people who walked out were pro palestine
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Not as many as Harvard, but it's something.
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I read that one of the Charities he donates to is actively engaging in the suffering of the Palestenians.
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The suffering? That puts it lightly. He has aided in killing the mothers and children of Gaza.
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Fuck that motherfucker
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Who are all these people Jerry?
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I'm confused. By all accounts Jerry and the entire cast came together to point out their hate for Trump and Republicans. But because he doesn't agree with one issue he's been labeled as a right winger? I'm so far left that young leftists think I'm too extreme, to the point where they call be right wing for disagreeing with every tiny thing they say. The young left have become the keepers of "right/wrong think"
Edit: a lot of young people who call themselves left, are doing everything possible to push people away from the left, instead of making them allies.
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Can you point out where anyone labeled him as a "right winger?"
Your comment is a complete false dichotomy based solely off a strawman argument.
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The “one issue” happens to be supporting a genocide, so it’s kind of a big one? I haven’t seen anyone calling him right-wing, but you can bet if cops were firing rubber bullets at peaceful student protesters under a republican administration, every lefty from NY to LA would be wringing their hands and crying “fascism”. The times they are a-changing my friend. It’s not just about left or right, and I’m glad these kids understand that.
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And the dude openly dated a minor when he was nearly 40, "Shoshanna is a person, not an age. She is extremely bright. She’s funny, sharp, very alert. We just get along. You can hear the click.”
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"""One issue"""
Which is supporting a genocide.
Also he's recently joined the whole "woke has ruined comedy" bit. Which is very much right wing.
Oh and he's also a predator that dated a teenager when he was in his 30s.
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I've always found the left more annoying than the right. The right are wrong, but the left are self-righteous smug dickheads. Liberals are like a chimera of both and I think that's why I hate them more than the right even though they're objectively less bad. That's my shitty analysis anyway.
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It’s just the rise of loud, groupthink edgelords, refusing to think past a hyper-emotional brainwash.
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Opposing a genocide and those who support it makes you a hyper-emotional edgelord? That's quite the edgelord take on the subject.
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That's how it works these days.
I'm pro-trans, but I'm not pro-trans people in women's sports. This makes me a anti-trans nazi in the vast majority of leftie/progressivist people's eyes, who clearly is a closeted Trump supporter. It's the whole 'we must be intolerant of intertolerance' type fo thing... but they've twist it to 'we must be intolerant of any disagreement whatsoever with our unrealistic ideological agenda that has no basis in a factual reality'.
There is no allowance for variance of reasonable opinion or an objective reality. You are with us, or against us, and therefore the enemy.
Lefties and young folks who are left leaning tend to be as braindead and lockstep as the Trumpers they claim to hate.
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with our unrealistic ideological agenda that has no basis in a factual reality
I think I've spotted their issue with you.
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TubularTittyFrog seems like as good as any to block.
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"Have you heard of these men pretending to be women to win in female sports? I weep for society etc etc"
The notion that people transition to gain social benefits, real or perceived, is absurd.
In fact people who transition are aware that transitioning will bring them to a lesser social status and overall heightened risk.
Unemployment, homelessness, subpar health services, and violence.
There is a driving force greater than these social losses that makes them transition anyway.
Bigots and ignorants might as well stop the hatred-mongering for a second and think, what the fuck that force could be.
The response: Increased mental health benefits from transitioning to live life in way true to their self.
Many homophobe clergymen might think that this equals publicly announcing you take it up the butt, but in fact
it is an expression of identity that cisgender people enjoy without question.
When put this way, without all the TERF/nazi dogwhistling ("groomers", "trans-identified males", "biological males", "degenerates", etc),
it gets harder and harder to keep pretending that the driving force behind the anti-gender movement is not hatred.
How can you possibly say "I want mental health outcomes only for cisgender people" without being exposed as a total hatemonger and bigot?
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/sa-visual/visualizing-sex-as-a-spectrum/
https://genderanalysis.net/2015/09/paul-mchugh-is-wrong-transitioning-is-effective-gender-analysis-10/
https://iv.datura.network/watch?v=NPmjNYt71fk
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/07/advocating-transgender-nonbinary-youths
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/2600-leaked-anti-trans-lobbyist-emails
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trans-girls-belong-on-girls-sports-teams/
https://www.wpath.org/publications/soc -
How often did you watch women's sports before you became aware of the controversial issue of trans women competing in them?
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"I'm pro-trans, but I'm not pro-trans people in women's sports."
If you're "pro-trans" then that means you believe that, for example, a trans woman is a woman, because she says she is.
So then you don't believe women should compete in women's sports?
....
Showing your ass there, huh?
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Annoying aren't they.
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