Lovett or Leave It

Political Violence Bad

72 min
Sep 13, 20257 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

This episode addresses the rise of political violence in America, featuring Minnesota State Representative Lee Finke discussing the Trump administration's trans eradication policy and how conservatives exploit tragedy to vilify marginalized groups. The show also includes a comedic panel discussion on LGBTQ+ issues and relationships.

Insights
  • Political violence is being weaponized by the right to justify broad crackdowns against political opponents, with inconsistent application of accountability standards
  • Trans eradication is a coordinated policy agenda executed through multiple federal mechanisms (healthcare coverage removal, FTC investigations, HHS rulemaking) rather than isolated culture war issues
  • Democratic messaging failures on trans issues stem from accepting conservative framing of sports as a legitimate policy battleground, ceding rhetorical ground unnecessarily
  • Lack of empathy and competitive vilification across the political spectrum creates a feedback loop that radicalizes citizens and desensitizes them to violence
  • LGBTQ+ community messaging requires asserting positive vision of trans liberation and freedom rather than defensive posturing on edge cases
Trends
Federal government using healthcare policy (insurance coverage removal, FTC fraud investigations) as primary mechanism for restricting adult access to gender-affirming careConservative strategy of manufacturing trans issues in unrelated stories (mass shootings, cabinet confirmations) to dominate political discourseErosion of Democratic messaging discipline on identity issues, with elected officials conceding rhetorical ground on sports to appear moderateRising political violence coupled with partisan inconsistency in accountability and response, creating legitimacy crisisGenerational shift in LGBTQ+ identity exploration and visibility, with younger cohorts more openly exploring gender and sexualityDecoupling of trans rights from broader healthcare and economic justice messaging among Democratic politiciansSocial media algorithms creating regional and demographic silos that prevent shared understanding of what constitutes actual political issues
Topics
Political Violence and AssassinationTrans Healthcare Policy and Insurance CoverageGender-Affirming Care RestrictionsDemocratic Messaging Strategy on Trans IssuesSports Policy and Trans ParticipationFederal Employee Healthcare BenefitsFTC Investigation of Gender-Affirming CarePolitical Rhetoric and IncitementEmpathy and Moral Responsibility in PoliticsTrans Joy and Community BuildingGender Identity and Self-DiscoveryLGBTQ+ Representation in GovernmentConservative Political StrategyMedia Framing of Trans IssuesIntersectionality in LGBTQ+ Advocacy
Companies
NCAA
Referenced for data showing only 10 trans athletes among 510,000 student athletes, demonstrating sports issue is manu...
Federal Trade Commission
Investigating gender-affirming care providers as part of coordinated federal effort to restrict access
HHS (Department of Health and Human Services)
Planning to release rules restricting gender-affirming care coverage and access
People
Lee Finke
Guest discussing trans eradication policy, recent marriage at Minnesota Capitol, and Democratic messaging failures
Spencer Cox
Republican leader offering genuine response to political violence, calling nation 'broken' and urging reflection
Charlie Kirk
Victim of assassination discussed as catalyst for episode's exploration of political violence and partisan response
Tim Walz
Referenced regarding Trump's dismissal of calling him after assassination of Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota
Gretchen Whitmer
Victim of attempted kidnapping plot discussed as example of rising political violence
Paul Pelosi
Victim of hammer attack discussed as example of political violence and lack of empathy
Brian Thompson
Murder victim whose death was celebrated by some on left, exemplifying lack of empathy across spectrum
Donald Trump
Discussed for inconsistent response to political violence and anti-trans rhetoric in official statements
JD Vance
Criticized for inserting trans ideology attacks into unrelated policy discussions
RFK Jr.
Referenced as example of Trump appointee 'whiffing' in spotlight during political violence response
Pete Buttigieg
Discussed in panel segment regarding authenticity of LGBTQ+ identity and political viability
Nancy Mace
Referenced for bathroom policing efforts targeting trans people
Quotes
"Our nation is broken. We've had political assassinations recently in Minnesota. We had an attempted assassination on the governor of Pennsylvania. And we had an attempted assassination on a presidential candidate and former president of the United States, and now current president of the United States."
Spencer Cox, Governor of Utah
"It's about what we owe each other. Assassinations are acts of arrogance and domination, whatever the motive. It is an assumption of power stolen from each of us, no matter who it targets."
Jon Lovett
"We don't just say we can give up some of the rights of these people in order to defend the next fight. We know if you look at the work of trans politicians and trans advocacy over the last few years, you will see that people who take a baby step towards it's okay if we give up on sports, it takes them very little time to give up on gender reform and care."
Lee Finke
"Trans liberation is liberation for everyone because everyone has ways that gender and patriarchy and these constructs that we live under have really done damage to who we are and who we can be."
Lee Finke
"The pathway forward is trans people belong. We spent a lot of time talking about this and I'm glad we did. The pathway forward is trans people belong."
Lee Finke
Full Transcript
Love to leave it is brought to you by Webroot. We take measures to protect ourselves in different aspects of our lives. You wear a seat belt, you put on sunscreen, turn on your security system, but what are you doing to protect your digital life? With Webroot, you can safeguard all parts of your digital life. Your devices, personal data, and privacy from threats like viruses, identity theft, and data breaches, Webroot offers multiple layers of protection to ensure you live a better digital life. Webroot Total Protection offers antivirus and identity protection, VPN backup, and more for one identity and up to five devices, or a family plan for up to 10 identities and 10 devices. Their antivirus offers real-time protection from malware, ransomware, and phishing, plus a firewall, network monitor, password manager, and more. Identity protection offers family coverage for toddlers, students, seniors, 65 and up, and other dependents, including up to $1 million for identity theft, expense, reimbursement. Webroot's VPN and backup allows you to hide your IP address, personal data, and location from hackers, and allows you to backup and restore your data with unlimited cloud storage for one PC or Mac, or if you're just looking for reliable antivirus protection. Webroot Essentials provides cloud-based antivirus protection for PC, Mac, or mobile devices, including a web threat shield that blocks malicious websites across multiple browsers. Get 50% off Webroot Total Protection or Webroot Essentials only when you go to webroot.com slash love it. That's 50% off Webroot Total Protection or Webroot Essentials available exclusively at webroot.com slash love it. Again, this offer is only available for love it or leave it listeners at webroot.com slash love it. Live a better digital life with Webroot. Web it, put it in, it's hot in, put it in. Strip, shoot, talk. What's up, Los Angeles? Yeah. Welcome to Love Releasing Live from Dynasty Typewriter. There is a lot to talk about this week. Minnesota representative Lee Finke is here. Yeah. She'll help us answer some of the big questions. Then, Punky Johnson, Alex English, and River Butcher joined to tackle some of the smaller ones. And at the end, we close with a classic, the rant wheel. But first, let's get into it. What a week. On Monday, McDonald's brought back the extra value meal. We also got the first look at Sidney Sweeney playing a boxer and a trailer for the film, Christie. And if this were the 1990s, we'd talk about whether it's OK for women to have muscles. And if Bill Clinton could resist a jog to that Mickey D's by the White House. But it's not the 1990s. It's 2025. Bill Clinton doesn't eat McDonald's anymore. He's a vegan, and he's in the F-seen Files. And the only question for Sidney Sweeney is whether she supports eugenics. Also, as we were reminded this week, we live in an era of rising political violence. The horrific murder of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday is only the latest example. There were multiple attempts on Trump's life, the shootings of Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, the attempted kidnapping of Gretchen Whitmer, the murder of CEO Brian Thompson, the attack on Paul Pelosi, the murders outside the Capitol Jewish Museum, the attack on the CDC, the insurrection on January 6. You could include the ideological motivations of mass shooters when those motivations are even comprehensible. And I'll just be honest with all of you that I have had a pit in my stomach ever since I saw the news. Universally elected Democrats have expressed their dismay. They've condemned the killing. They've denounced political violence. And here was Utah's Republican governor, Spencer Cox, offering what genuine leadership looks like. Our nation is broken. We've had political assassinations recently in Minnesota. We had an attempted assassination on the governor of Pennsylvania. And we had an attempted assassination on a presidential candidate and former president of the United States, and now current president of the United States. Nothing I say can unite us as a country. Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken. We just need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be. To ask ourselves, is this it? A speech so moving, we'll just brush past the fact that his name is Cox. But Utah's governor was, among Republicans, the exception that proved the rule, as politicians and prominent conservatives, not random shit posters, held half the country responsible for the killing. Here's what a member of Congress said on the House floor. There is no long-granting middle ground. Some of the American left are undoubtedly well-meaning people, but their ideology is pure evil. They hate the good, the truth, and the beautiful and embrace the evil, the false and the ugly. And you can add that to the list of examples of the House of Representatives being the absolute worst office job on earth. Imagine if you're at your job and your colleague from sales got up at an all hands and said, the marketing team has one or two people I can tolerate, but the team as a whole is evil, and hates all that is good and pure. Other than at Netflix, I can't think of an office culture where that is tolerated. Here's Alex Jones in a live stream from his InfoWars channel while driving. This is a war. This is a war. This is a war. This is a war. Sorry, that was the wrong clip. That was just Alex Jones racing home to try to not completely shit his pants. And here's Trump from the Oval Office promising a crackdown against the left. For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now. My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it. Remember when a Democratic lawmaker and her husband were assassinated in Minnesota, and Trump said it would be a waste of time to call Governor Tim Walts? Hard to believe that was only 70 years ago. And look, I don't want to tell these guys how to do their jobs, but if you're going to use a political assassination's motivations as a justification for a broad crackdown against your opposition, you should catch the guy first. John Hinckley wanted to date Jody Foster. The guy that fired 29 rounds at the White House to kill Bill Clinton in 1994 claimed he was trying to stop an alien mist emanating from the Colorado mountains. And it worked. Meanwhile, as this was unfolding, the head of the FBI posted that the subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody, only for that person, as well as another potential suspect to later be released. It is nice that all of Trump's appointees can take turns absolutely whiffing it in the spotlight like this. Step aside, RFK Jr., it's Cash Patel's week to step on his own dick. Then the Wall Street Journal passed on a report that said the recovered ammunition was engraved with what it described as transgender and anti-fascist ideology, only to add a word of caution from a Justice Department official that said the report might not be accurate. But that's the good news about anti-trans hysteria. It goes right back in the tube. Just no problem. The State Department also promised to revoke visas of non-citizens who made light of the killing on social media. Please feel free to bring such comments by foreigners to my attention so that the State Department can protect the American people, said the Under Secretary for Online NARCs and Bitter Virgins. Obviously, there are many on the right that want to exploit this killing, but there are also others genuinely furious and rightfully so. But it's just so clear that part of what makes this political era so toxic is that even elected Republican leaders, supposed adults, do not see it as their job to take one step past raw emotion into the slightly uncomfortable place next to it, where you can try to translate that anger without being completely compelled by it. And the fact that I'm the emotionally mature one here should be chilling to your core. These Republicans cannot see past their animosity, and they're led by a person who has never understood wisdom well enough to pretend to have it. But there is a strain of this on the left, too. Even as we have broadly seen denunciations of political violence and the danger it poses, even as Democrats have, of course, modeled responsibility in a way Republicans increasingly cannot. There has been what Jackman described well as an almost competitive lack of empathy. And while the vilification of the left by those in power is not the same as indifference to Kirk's killing by those outside of it, both are part of the same problem, as was the celebration of the death of Brian Thompson and the jokes after the attack on Paul Pelosi. And look, I love jokes, but jokes are like donuts, delightful in almost every situation, but useless when someone is attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer. Oh, my God. We live in a depraved era. There is a viciousness in us now. We are drowning in images of death and violence, and it enrages us against our opponents. It radicalizes us while sapping us of our care and empathy. We are sensitized, and we are desensitized all at once. I understand why people see the news of Kirk's death and display a lack of empathy and bristle at the suggestion that they're wrong not to feel what's proper, especially when voices on the right have fomented so much hate, incited violence, targeted vulnerable people, spread lies that tear at the fabric of society. And I'll be honest, there are jokes that I cannot and will not say, but not because they have not occurred to me. You all know me. I have that in me. I can go for a horrible joke. I have a joke in my mind that would take the paint off a Buick. I'm not... I'm not better than anybody else. I'm not better than anybody else. Except for Dan. I'm better than Dan. I'm kidding. Dan's the best of us. He's the best of us. But this isn't about decorum or respect or performative grieving, and it's not about defending Charlie Kirk's worldview even a little bit. It's not about what we owe them. It's about what we owe each other. Assassinations are acts of arrogance and domination, whatever the motive. It is an assumption of power stolen from each of us, no matter who it targets. It invites chaos and further violence, and if it doesn't disgust you viscerally, if you aren't horrified and enraged, I'm sorry, but I beg you to see past your animosity to enter that uncomfortable place where you see the humanity of those blaming us right now. I don't think we should fool ourselves into believing that doing that makes us weak or naive about our opposition. That capacity is what makes us, the left, those who believe in an America far more generous and just and kind, different from the right, and ultimately it is what gives us power. And that is how we get to the end of what is a depraved era without becoming depraved ourselves. And if all of this wasn't bad enough, the $5 breakfast special only applies to the sausage egg McMuffin when obviously we all want the classic egg McMuffin, and I swear to God the left will pay for this. Alright, when we come back I'm joined by state rep Lee Finke, and boy am I glad. Hey, don't go anywhere, there's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. Love It is brought to you by Lola Blankets. I really like my Lola Blanket. It's very soft. It's the world's number one blanket. Crafted with it. It is number one blanket, the world over. Crafted with ultra soft luxury vegan faux fur and a signature four-way stretch that sets it apart. It's a vegan blanket you're wearing. Yeah, or you just sleepy to see you. It's machine washable, double hand for durability, no lulless, no peeling, no shedding, even after repeated washes. Lola has over 10,000 five-star reviews, and once you feel it, you'll know why. It's because it's got that vegan fur, and they really treat the vegans nicely when they're getting that fur. The vegans actually feel better once the fur is off. No one's going to throw paint on your vegan blanket. Right, yeah. Once the vegans are shorn, they feel more comfortable to run around the Lee. Lola also makes weighted blankets for calming therapeutic vibes. It's amazing, and you will save when bundling. For a limited time, our listeners are getting a huge 35% off their entire order at LolaBlankets.com by using the code LOVEIT at checkout. They're really soft, really comfortable, really nice blankets. They have a bunch of different colors. It's cool. You'll like it. You need a blanket. Put it on the couch, the edge of your bed, whatever. Go to LolaBlankets.com. Use code LOVEIT for 35% off. After your purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. Wrap yourself in luxury with Lola Blankets. And we're back! Please welcome to the stage Minnesota State Representative, Trans Freedom Alliance State Policy Director, an extremely exhausted queer person. It's Lee Finke! Hi, thank you for being here. Welcome. Thank you for your invitation. Hello, everyone. Nice to meet you. Yeah, hello. Nice to meet you in person. We talked briefly, and I was really, I really enjoyed our conversation. But since the last time we spoke, you got married. I did. Only like two weeks ago. Two weeks ago! Wow. Is it different? Not really. But it was a great wedding, so that was worth it. Yeah, you did at the State Capitol. Yes, in the Minnesota State Capitol, and then we had a street party afterwards with dancing and pizza, and it was delicious. One of the largest freestanding marble domes in the world. That's right. The one right under it is St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It's bigger than the one in St. Peter's Basilica? Yeah. Wow. That's crazy, because I went to, I've been to both, actually. And one time I accidentally went to the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on Palm Sunday. Oh, boy, that's the busy season. Yeah. The trains were full of people with fronds, and I was like, why does everyone have fronds? Oh, but I saw Pope John Paul the second in person. Oh, let's see. Small. And you had a DJ, that Lizzo's DJ. Yes, Lizzo's DJ was our DJ for the wedding. That was a big coup for us, because we are nobody, and she is Lizzo's DJ, but it was amazing. She was wonderful, very excited to come and do our big trans queer wedding. Nice. You can read all about my wedding in the New York Times, if you're interested. That's because you both come from oil money. Yes. Oh, yes. Minnesota oil money, yes. So, in other news, Minnesota just went through this terrible tragedy of a mass shooting, this attack, and immediately after there was an ever-to-villainized trans people, just the notion of being trans, trans ideology, they call it, as being responsible by the right. And now today, there was this sketchy report claiming that there was some inscription on the bullets of this weapon that espoused what they described as trans ideology and anti-fascist ideology. We still don't know what that means, or even if it's true, or how you can get that on a bullet, write that on a little tiny bullet. But clearly, there's been so much vitriol and an effort to take a whole range of stories and make them about trans people, even when RFK Jr. testified and was obliterated, because he's a moron. JD Vance said, I have trouble taking these Democrats seriously because of what they believe and then inserted his characterization of beliefs on trans issues, and it was like, what is this having to do with anything? How do you respond to the effort to kind of vilify trans people and make them the story, whether it's a mass shooting or an anti-vax cabinet secretary or what have you? Yeah, I mean, for me, I think what that is about is about the central policy of the Trump administration, which is trans eradication. I think there is a concerted trans eradication policy, and by making every story a trans story, right, long before the shooter had enunciation, they have said the last four, five, six shooters in these mass shootings are trans, and they're not trans. They've just been lying about that, right? So when the enunciation shooter had a trans relationship with trans identity, we don't really know what it is. It was like hitting the jackpot for them, because finally, this thing that they have been lying about had become true. They want everyone to be talking about trans people and nothing else whenever they have an opportunity. So whether it's medications and RFK's madness or whatever JD Vance is talking about when he's talking about us, which is all the time, and even Trump, who's just dropping in random anti-trans language into his remarks, this is a part of a policy that they are trying to execute, which is getting rid of trans people from the public sector. So I feel like there's the kind of political fight they're trying to have and what they claim that fight is about, and then there's the policy agenda behind it. I want to put those out, and I want to start with the policy agenda. So there have been a lot of orders that have gotten a lot of attention. Those have been around hot button issues, sports, youth, military. Among those orders, where is it that like... The fear obviously is not just that they're going to go after trans youth, or they're going to go after access to trans healthcare for trans adults, even outside of public services. I mean, they are doing that. So how are they doing that? One, they took away the essential health benefit from Obamacare to cover gender-affirming care for people of all ages. They took gender-affirming care away from people in prison, from people in the military or people in military families, and from all federal employees. They removed gender-affirming care from the health insurance coverage of federal employees. So there's tens and tens of thousands of adults who have lost their healthcare, in addition to all of the attacks on gender-affirming care for minors that we are seeing, and going to continue to see. And they have many current programmatic... They have a lot of different ways they're doing this right now. This is continuing. HHS is going to release some rules. They have the Federal Trade Commission that's investigating. They're going to continue doing it until it is gone is their plan. And it's not just about kids. And so what is the status of... So that's how they're doing it to limit ability to get insurance to cover it, where they have that power. What are they doing beyond that around broader bans to access regardless? Well, it's much more difficult to ban access for adults. What they're trying to do is use height amendment style attacks. They're trying to take it... Make it so that any place that is providing gender-affirming care puts everything else they do at risk, right? So if you have 1% of the population receiving a small amount of care, you're just not going to jeopardize everything else you do to service that 1% of the population. I'm not sure if the plan to take it away would be what they're trying to do at the Federal Trade Commission, which would make it so that doctors cannot provide it. They have this gender-affirming care is fraud, essentially, added on its surface. And then thus it would be not legal to provide gender-affirming care. So I want to run through that in part because that is not the story of what is happening around trans issues in the country, right? The story is more about certain edge cases. It's around competitive sports. It's around gender-affirming care, not just for minors, but for young minors. And I want to know how you think we get out of that kind of that bell, right? Because conservatives want us in that conversation because they view that as their strongest ground. I think that polling has retreated on trans issues in a way that's really frightening. But largely, if you ask people, should people have access to health care that the doctor wants them to receive as adults? Of course, the answer is very positive. People should be able to live as they are. But here they think they have winning issues. How do we break that cycle? I mean, we as Democrats, I am an elected Democrat, right? And one of the things that I spend my time doing is talking to elected Democrats about how to get away from spiraling the drain on sports. Because we will never get out of that. That is a trap. And it is a trap they have played to beyond their wildest dreams successful. And what we need to do as Democrats is articulate a vision of a country where trans people belong and get out of the stupid spiral of talking about sports, which is not an issue. There are dozens of trans people in this country who play sports that are youths. And we are obsessing over them, obsessing over them. You know, the president of the NCAA said there are 510,000 student athletes and 10 of them in the NCAA are trans. I mean, it is not a problem. We need to be boldly speaking, not about sports, but about trans people and the value that we have and non-binary people and two-spirit people, and that we belong in the country and deserve what everyone else deserves. And we don't need to take the bait. And we don't need to get into a terrible downstream effects of trans healthcare. All of the stuff that they're trying to do, it just eclipses the very fact that we want the same things everyone else wants. And if you're fighting for healthcare and housing and food security and jobs, then you're fighting for trans people. And don't be afraid of that. I want to dig into this a little in part because I'm sick of it. And I'm sick of this sort of... Because I feel like I hear that and that all sounds right to me. It's a trap. I see I was a trap. It's obviously not a major issue. And I assume the people that have been answering questions in a way that has gotten heat from the left on these issues, whether it's Pete Buttigieg who had his time in the barrel or Gavin Newsom's time in the barrel or Seth Moulton's time in the barrel, that they would all agree with what you just said. But their answer to this is, yeah, I agree. It's a trap, but I'm not going to say that people's concerns about a top competitive NCAA athlete are wrong. I'm going to say let's not focus on that. We should just lose on that. That's a real issue. We don't need to own that. Let's protect trans people everywhere else. I want to understand why that's wrong. They all earned their time in the barrel because that is wrong. We don't just say we can give up some of the rights of these people in order to defend the next fight. We know if you look at the work of trans politicians and trans advocacy over the last few years, you will see that people who take a baby step towards it's okay if we give up on sports, it takes them very little time to give up on gender reform and care. And you saw your governor out here do that. If you did one podcast and you talked about sports and then on the next one, he was like, yeah, I'm not sure I'm cool with the health care either. We won't gain anything by giving up on that. What we do is we say to people what is true. And I know that they believe it. They're baking in a stew of anti-trans... I mean, these are people who watch Fox News every day. They have no concept of trans people in reality, of trans kids, of sports. They know nothing. But what we do know is that American voters don't want us to be giving up on people. That's not what people want. They want strength. They want powerful assertion of values and saying like, yeah, we're going to let these kids go is not a position that's going to win you forward. Yeah. And if you have to give a policy position, fine. You can say like it's local control. I agree with local control. What are we going to do? Top down control. The top is a fascist maniac who's trying to eradicate trans people. Schools should be in charge of their sports policy is correct. But it doesn't matter if you give the correct answer. That's my point. It doesn't matter if your answer is the right answer. You will gain nothing by giving it up. Yeah. No, I know. And it's fine. I introduced this by saying how sick I am of this topic, but I want to dive in with you a little bit about it just because I hear you say that like, oh, you know, if you give here, you're going to give there. Or like, I hear tactics and I hear strategy and I get that. And I hear the fear, which I think is what drives a lot of that, the frustration with mainstream Democrats who do this, which is, hey, if you give here, you're going to kind of person that's going to give elsewhere. Right. But then I think, well, hold on a second. Is the actual successful answer to the question? Like the NCAA should make its own decisions. That's nothing to do with the government and leave it at that. And but that to me says without saying it that there is an issue with a biological male being in a female sport. Right. So you just gave them what they wanted. Well, that's why I want to understand you gave it to them by saying a biological male in a female sport, because trans girls are girls and should play with the girls and trans boys are boys and should play with the boys and trans boys, by the way, are completely erased from any conversation about sports or talking about trans women and girls, but alone to spirit and non binary people. Like there are complicated factors to these questions. But the problem with the question that you are asking is what is the right answer? And there isn't a right answer. There's nothing satisfactory to say to people who are trying to catch you on sports. There's no right answer. But I'm not trying to be caught on sports and I hear you and I hear you about the mistake. I hear you about the way in which I'm giving into their logic. And but part of the reason why I say it that way is I agree with you. I believe in the vast majority of sports. And what I care about is that trans girls get to play sports with their friends and grow up and be girls and have fun and not and the vast majority of athletes are not good. And especially trans athletes. But like I see like high level competitive sports is sort of this specific and kind of exogenous special place where it's the one place where this is why they focus on it. There isn't a sense in which the biology could matter. And that's the one place where that's true. I don't care intramural sports kids growing up. Like I want those kids to be protected at all costs. And that to me is the whole fight. I want people to feel safe to be themselves. I want everyone who's trans to be able to be themselves and supported and have health care. And like if I if I see a debate about high level competitive sports, I think couldn't that be the place where this biological question rears its ugly head in a way we actually lose on the merits? No, is that wrong? It is wrong because it's not a problem. It's a it's a manufactured hypothetical. We have no examples of that. Right. What do we have? Trans women are tying for fifth. Right. You have what maybe once in a like what you're really predicating on the question on is no trans person can succeed. That's why they're taking trans women out of darts and pool and chess. And you know, it's not a biological advantage in darts and pool and chess. Right. They do not want trans people in there. So I know that this is a difficult policy question. And that's why I'm saying you you will never find a pathway forward. You will never find it. The pathway forward is trans people belong. We spent a lot of time talking about this and I'm glad we did. I was like, I'm very interested in this, but I am engaged to a trans person. Congratulations. One for being engaged in two to a trans person. And I do think it is threatening to a certain conception of like, I don't think conservatives are wrong to see trans people as a vanguard for questions about gender, really good questions that we should be asking. And if we weren't trapped in an endless cycle of recrimination and animosity, can you talk a little bit about like, what it would look like to describe trans people as and transness is not just to be tolerated, but about what it contributes. That's such a great question. And I'm so grateful for it because I love being trans so much. And I we have so few opportunities to just enjoy and love ourselves in public. Right. And that's why my wife and I got married at the Capitol and had the story in the New York Times because trans joy is magnificent and beautiful. And I love it. And it saved me and I grew up in those 90s and we didn't know there was I would have loved to have known about who I could have been a lot sooner. Right. But we had no idea. And I think that, you know, when it comes to, you know, being a trans person and the questions that you're asking, right, one of the things that I think is so exciting about people who are exploring their gender is it's like an exploration of a new world, but it's like interior, right? You don't have to destroy and colonize things. You can just go into your body and your brain and you can discover things about yourself. I firmly believe that trans liberation is liberation for everyone because everyone has ways that gender and patriarchy and these constructs that we live under have really done damage to who we are and who we can be. And it's not about becoming a certain kind of person. It's about finding out what kind of person you could become. And to do that as a trans person, you know, when I came out in the first Trump right at the beginning of the first Trump administration and it was really hard. It was very difficult. And I remember going to my therapist and just being like, how could I possibly not have known this by now? Like, I must have a brain tumor, right? Like, you couldn't not realize this. And she said, you know, sometimes you just have to be shaken out of something, right? And like, she actually told me, I've never talked about this, but she said she had a bunch of trans women who joined her, who've been like, a bunch of people came out as trans because Trump became the president, right? And like, we went inside and started looking around because the world felt worse. And I think there's something really magical about that. And I think that there is a reason people are looking and exploring as the world burns, right? As the world feels less safe because we're not going outside, we're going inside and we're finding all these beautiful truths about ourselves. And the world should be lining up for us because we are bringing a freedom and a joy that is something that everyone can benefit from. I don't know why I always go to Jesse Waters on this, but he's constantly talking about all the ways in which a man can't be. You know, men don't drink from straws and they don't sing happy birthday and they don't dance and there are all these things that men can't do. Even men's formal clothing is getting so restrictive, right? So it's one piece of frilly fabric is really what's tolerated, right? Everything else should look the same. And I do think that that idea of questioning, I think it is terrifying because they're in a prison that's locked from the inside. And I do think it's really hard for people because it is a discomfort. There's a discomfort that it introduces that they because it requires them to ask questions. Maybe they haven't asked before, right? About why what is it about me that what is my masculinity to me? Right? What is my what is the part of me that's a man and what is the part of me that's not? Yeah, and some people like Jesse Waters, they have power that depends upon people not doing that, right? Like you will lose your power over the people who you maintain power if those people start to free themselves from the bullshit constructs that you preach every single day. There's a major capitalist endeavor to not have people. The biggest my little peek maybe into my maybe I'll rant about this later, but like the biggest problem for me is that I can't buy shoes that are cute, right? Like we haven't built a capitalist society for T-girls to buy cute shoes and that's a real problem. I'll tell you something. This is a smaller problem. That's a pretty small problem. Wait, actually it's not. Never mind. But so when I just to buy pink sneakers so often you have to figure out the way to can I have to figure out how to convert the female sizes to the male sizes because they're in different sizes for no reason because they're made in the same room. And the men's colors are always blue, gray, black. I mean men's clothes are the most boring clothes and you don't realize that until you're trying to dress as a trans woman in these men's shoes that are all the same color. It's crazy. Those shoes are cute. Those shoes are cute. I love a chunky boot. Representative Lee Finke, thank you so much. Really good talking to you. Thank you so much for having me. We'll be back. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. Love It or Leave It is brought to you by Blinds.com. If you've ever thought about upgrading your window treatments but didn't want the hassle, Blinds.com is here to change the game. They're the only company that lets you shop custom blinds and shades online then backs it up with a professional in-home measure and install service. Tired of waiting around all day for an in-home design appointment just to get a quote. You're right. I am sick of it. At Blinds.com you can skip the stress and get expert design advice with their own convenient virtual consultations on your schedule. Four in the morning. Five in the morning. I don't think so. It's probably during their business hours, you know, but still you can schedule it. I don't know what their schedule is. I don't think they've got 24-hour blind people. I mean, you know, it's convenient, but be realistic. Whether you know what you want or need a little help, they'll get you covered. Do it yourself or sit back and let Blinds.com handle everything from measured install. Either way, you have access to experts every step of the way. Blinds.com makes it easy to get their designer look. Without the showroom markups, they're on a mission to make custom window treatments easy and affordable for everyone. Get the same quality and service you would at other high-end stores, but at a fraction of the price. They really get you on Blinds. Blinds and curtains, it's shockingly expensive. That's why you got to use Blinds.com. Shop with confidence at Blinds.com. Orders are backed by their 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you're not happy, they'll make it right. Right now, Blinds.com is giving our listeners an exclusive $50 off when you spend $500 or more. Just use code, love it, and check out limited time off for rules and restrictions. Apply, see Blinds.com for details. And we're back! Please welcome to the show, it's Alex English, Punky Johnson, and River Butcher. Hi, come on out. Sit wherever. Hi, you can sit there. Hello. Hello. Greetings. I sit, I like to go high like a perch. I like it, yeah. I like coffee. It's nice. I don't put my feet on people's furniture, that's disgusting. But y'all, you do you. I have to. It feels good not to be in my mama house for once. We take shoes off in my household. Yeah, you're right. Not me shaming y'all. Thank you for joining me. Thanks for being here. Let's lighten it up, you know? The news is heavy. Yep. But that's okay. Really, what's going on? Nothing, we're not gonna... I lost my phone. I've been chilling. Yeah. But, and there are a lot of questions we can't answer, but there are some we can. And it's a night of... We're just wandering across the Pride flag at tonight's show. And that's fun. And so we have an all queer panel. And so we thought it would be time for some LGBT... Who said I was gay? This is so embarrassing. I'm like, look at you gay. You gay. You did when you started talking. So it's time for some... Somebody told me, the other day, they thought I was bi and I was like... Yeah, I still got it. I'm sorry, go ahead. What would be the difference? How would we know the difference? I don't know. They said I give bi energy. I don't even know what that means. So we had a table up front where we asked for some of your LGBT questions. I'm not sure if I said that right. Hi, River. Hi. Hi. Hi. Good to see you. Good to see you too. Hi, Punky. Hello. We just hadn't really talked. Alex, we talked. You sound like Dave Chappelle as a white guy. Hello. I'm trying to be professional. Hello, John. I know what... I'm trying to be professional. Oh, that's not necessary. No, I want to. I want to try it. Well, you got your legs crossed. Yeah, I feel like we're on a panel. We got nice shit. I started off wrong with my feet on the thing. You said it. So now I'm about to go back into my professional shit. Absolutely class. Yeah, we got class. It's time for a segment we're calling Gay Supreme Court. Nice. Oh, shit. I love that. I love that shit. Wow. I look tired as hell. I have a gavel, but we didn't really think about not having a hand for it. So anyway, there's the gavel. Nice. And these are questions from the audience for our queer panel. And it can be about whatever topic. And if these suck, I have other questions. Okay. This is how they do it on the real Supreme Court, by the way. Real. Should each profile on Grindr include a satisfaction rating just like Amazon or Yelp? I think that it should have that, but I think not Amazon or Yelp version, the satisfaction. I think it should be like when you use an airport bathroom, you know, and they have the little buttons from like red, orange, yellow, green. I think that's the metric we should use for Grindr profiles. I love that. That's nice. Like emergency, like 9-11, we're in the orange, we're in the yellow, we're in the red. Exactly. Right. Terror alert. Terror alert. Grindr, now that I could give a line. Terribly. Build this person destroy your fucking life. I can give behind that. Well, I... Excuse me, I was next. Oh, I'm sorry, I apologize. I apologize. No, no, no. I'm the clearest time in Supreme Court. I just realized that. Go ahead. I'm all about people exposing people. Well, I'm just to the edge right now that I ain't got time to find out. So whoever you dated last, I want... Whoever y'all was... Come over here, get on this thing and say what this motherfucker was doing and what they wasn't doing and all the things. You know what I want to start doing? Talking to people exes. What I got to look out for. Why is it that when you're hiring somebody, you get references? Correct. But for something as important as a relationship, there's no references. No. What if before a date, you got a resume and you got a couple contacts and you call them and be like, what were they like? And they're like, do you want... I mean, I can tell you, like they were a pleasure to work with. And it's like, that sounds forced. What really happened? Right. You know? Tell me everything. I disagree. I don't have time to find out no more. I disagree. And I'm kind of dumb. So when I see the red flag... You think, ooh, they're hot. Yeah, I'll let a red flag go over my head. But if you tell me, if you warn me, then maybe I'll potentially pay more attention to the red flag. Yeah, yeah. I've had a hard time seeing red flags because I'm usually waving my own giant red flag. Yeah, there we go. Well, I'll do that too. I'll do that too. You can't really see me. See, that's why I'm against this. That's why I'm against the whole, like, you know, talk to the ex and find out and rating. Nah, element of surprise. That's part of being gay. Hey, us. And also, and also, like, I feel like as a person who fucks up in relationships often, I don't need them telling you what's going on. That's gone. Yeah. I don't want anybody ever again. That's right. I don't want my Uber rating going. No. That's such an important point because the whole, like, all of the internet discourse around virtually any issue is always written from the perspective of people who have been wronged. There was a whole period of time where, like, there was a whole series of articles and, like, a whole thing about, like, am I dating a sociopath? Is this person a sociopath? Am I dating a narcissist? Am I dating a narcissist? It's like, you know that the narcissists and the sociopaths are on the internet, too. You know, they're getting tips from all this stuff. Absolutely. You know, they're consuming, people are throwing out red flags, seeing red flags, all at the same time. Yeah. And I think we should expose ourselves. See, I am to the point where now, anybody got to tell nothing about me. I meet a bitch, I be like, look, bitch, I'm barely going to be home. I be on the road all the time. I might get some pussy from time to time, but it ain't going to mean nothing. And then, and I ain't really the most romantic nigga, but I'll pay you a light bill. And, and, and then, and then when all the shit start happening, they be like, it's fine, I can deal with it. And then when all the shit start happening, I be like, I told you to happen with that one, bitch. So I be trying to just put it all out there. Too long, dairy, I ain't shit. There you go. I was only on, when I was first single again, after having not been single for a decade, and I, which meant I went from, I was from the pre app era to the app era. I took an Ambien and right as I was falling to sleep, a friend of mine called to plan a Passover Seder. And I remember the beginning of the conversation and I don't remember the end. I did on Ambien set up an OKQ grid profile from scratch, then set my area to the world and then confused the two swiping directions. And so just said hell yeah to a ton of guys in like East Asia, like there was a lot of Filipino guys and there was a bunch of people and like, I think India that had been, because that was the time of day it was, it was the middle of the night. And so it's getting a lot of action in that time zone. It was really a time zone issue. I didn't know Ambien automatically turned you 47 years old. Okay, Cupid, I ain't heard that whipscited. Order, order in the court, order. Order, order. If we have another interruption like that, I'll throw you out of here. But I'll see where it goes. Next question. Where do the LA gays by their high fashion bathing suits, I saw a gold LeMay one at the Sophie Tail Pool and it rocked. High fashion and LA gays do not belong in the same sense. Yeah. Y'all don't know how to dress out here. Everybody in LA dress like they go up to the airport. Are you saying cozy and comfy? Is that what you're saying? The city of athleisure. Yeah, yeah, it is. Don't nobody put in any effort here. Stop looking at me. That sucked. That wasn't an attack. What's the difference between pansexual and bisexual? Good night, y'all. America just explodes. I don't even know. Do I need to give a joke or a real one? Pan is like everybody, right? But here's the crazy thing. The actual definition of bisexuality, the original definition is being attracted to the opposite gender and the same gender as yourself. So that is not exclusive of really anybody. There's an argument to be made that pansexual was designed to be inclusive of trans people, but it's actually like this horseshoe of being weirdly transphobic. And then we don't need it, but now it's too much of an attack, guys, that we can't take it out. The pansexual toothpaste has all been squeezed. Wait, what did I say? That was funny. That was funny. Shit, I didn't even know. I just did a callback by accident, as you were saying. How am I being bullied by the most supportive audience on Earth? How did I get to this point? These people came to see you. That's crazy. Y'all, wow. I will say, I think I know, pansexual is whatever Wayne Brady is doing. So, but it is like, so bisexual, your gender or the opposite gender, but it would conceivably exclude non-binary people and therefore pansexual would include them. Not technically, because if I'm not non-binary, that is the opposite of my gender. What is opposite doing here? It's just not your gender. What is opposite? We as Americans have a very confusing understanding of what the word opposite actually means, because in like some other country that I can't remember the name of, Sweden, Norway, some shit like that, when you ask a person in that country, what is the opposite of boy? They say, man. Exactly. So, good point. The opposite is on the river. No, no, take the flow. I will. I fucking go. Yeah, river, river. Fill the buster. This is a fill the buster river. The opposite is not actually gender. So if I put the word opposite the way they're thinking about it, it's like, who am I? Who are you? Awesome. That's it. Thank you. Yeah, that's why I don't know who that person is, because I think about that shit all the time. You know there are some languages where you face the past and the future is behind you, which makes a lot more sense, because we don't see the future. Yeah, we can't. We're riding backwards on a train. That's right. We see it only the past, exclusively. The future doesn't exist until it's on the other side. That's right. And then it's not there. It's never there. Because we're present. Like, ah. Only white people get to think like this. Black people, we always gotta stay in the past. Remember what they did to us? Remember what they did to us? We gotta stay in the past. Y'all get to be free. Y'all get to be like, where they go and have these conversations. They're like, who I am, not who I was. It's just always who I was, man. I love it. I get to soak in. Don't you love it when we do songs like this? We get to soak in. You see I'm sitting up here next to my ride. Yeah, man. I love white people. I love being around white people. It's so fun. I feel like a sponge right now. I'm going back to New York different. Especially LA gay white, too. You know what I mean? Because y'all lawless out here. Yeah, no laws. Yeah, I'm trying to act. I'm trying to get like, y'all, that's where freedom is. Queer and white. You know what, take the flow. Pop off. We are not in that segment of the show yet. We are still. Look at me producing. Go ahead, John. This is your show. This is your show. What kind of bisexual do you think Pedro Pascal is? Pansexual. Listen. Listen. That ain't none of our motherfucking business, okay? Lee, that can't be. A cutie. A cutie bisexual. Oh, I didn't know he was bad. Listen, you still don't know. That is none of our motherfucking business, okay? Well, no, now it makes me happy. Because maybe he'll be my baby daddy. I'll pop some books for Pedro. The way. I'll pop it. The way Punky offers like the men that she comes in contact with her uterus. Yeah. Because didn't you do that to Travis Kesty? He can have some uterus. Before her. Before her. Before your girl. He can have some uterus. He can 100% have his baby. So what you're saying is that you would be Taylor Sergi if need be. No, I need her to be mine. The baby gonna be my baby. Oh, I didn't know if you wanted it. I want my baby. I want my baby. I ain't gonna be there, but I want it. I need my legacy to continue. I ain't doing nothing but creating another father motherless house. That's all I'm doing. Hey, but the bills gonna be paid. The bills gonna be paid. That's beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. Incredible. Yeah, we creating all kind of different types of American families over here. Let's go. This week, the New York Public Schools System introduced Frankie Focus, the furry green glasses wearing mascot of their new cell phone band. That's Bernie Sanders. The top 1% of the other 1%. Your phone only has 1%. I got there. I got there. You got there. You got there. You got there. You got there. That was great. You got there. You got there, Dianne. You got there. What kind of gay is that? That's gay gay. That's a gay. I still hit it. Look at her. I was about to say, my girl got her first day of school breaks. Okay. What's the welcome sign? Is that a, and they had a bus stop? What is it? Oh, yeah. They had a school. They had a school with that mascot, Frankie Focus. What was their second pitch? Imagine being the lamest mascot. Like, cause New York Liberty mascot right now is going up. Oh, all the way up. Ellie up. Ellie is up. Imagine him trying to walk up on Ellie. No, Ellie's sneaking at my mother. Ellie, I'm gay. Get away from me. Cause Ellie is a whole- Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm trying to get Ellie too. Gritty doing a hate crime against Frankie Focus. Frankie Focus can get fucked. On a reason? For the kids they sell phone. They already cooked. What the fuck is this? It doesn't matter. They already cooked. The sponsor teaching them more than the fucking students. Yeah, that's true. Shit. That's true. We can't undo this. That's true. I'm dumb as hell. Let TikTok, let TikTok teach these little motherfuckers. I know they cook cause I'm cooked. And I had a real good education. No cell phone, no iPads. I had a good education and I'm cooked. I'm done. I had a show Sunday and they asked me to send them a guest list. My brain wasn't brainin'. I didn't even send names. I sent nicknames. I was like, man, man. Delicious. Also, yeah. That was like, fuck it. We need names, bitch. I was like, I don't know them niggas' names. I was like, this is what I know. And so they should have the phones in schools? I think so. I think so. Cause like, you know, you know, y'all see what's out there. Y'all, do y'all see who are actually teachers out there? Like there are some people who, there are a lot of people who should not be teaching kids. And I'm like, would I rather have a phone telling my kid something or this weird motherfucker who I see arguing with 12 year olds online? Like I'm on Facebook still and I'm watching like people that I know that I went to high school with who are teachers getting into arguments with like bots and like, yeah, people who are like underage and I'm like, do you know that people can see you? And you're a teacher. You are a teacher. I'm like, look, and also why we on the subject of education? Look, since we on the Supreme Court, look, I get it. Like black, like black history is American history and it should be taught, but not in every school. I feel like, like, like, I feel like white people, I don't really need y'all to know black history like that. Like it's actually none of y'all business. It's actually really none of y'all. Because like, have you ever met like a white dude who went to NYU who learned about black history? That's the most annoying motherfucker you've ever met. Like one time I was talking to a dude, one of these types of dudes and he was like, you know, he was talking to me about black history. That was his reference and shit that I kind of didn't know. But instead of being like, oh yeah that's cool. I'm like, get the fuck out of my face. What are you talking about. You telling me about James Baldwin 4. Fuck. I don't get well. Get the fuck on bitch. Like this. Tell me about my shit. This is my shit. He was trying to be a friend. Nah. He was being racist. That's racist. I don't know how it's racist. well, well, well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well well I felt racial. I felt racial. Hey, your feelings are valid and we are not going to question your feelings, not on this stage. How about that? I still feel targeted. All right, last one. On a recent episode of his podcast, Tucker Carlson accused Pete Buttigieg of being secretly straight. I've always wanted an interview, and he's never agreed to an interview, but I'm going to ask him like some very specific questions about gay sex and see if he can even answer. I doubt he even knows. I love how excited he got about really specific gay sex questions. But look, I think he's right about being Buttigieg. That dude said he would take a pill to be straight. Right? I mean, who among us? And that doesn't exist. Well, I think you go through that phase. I think some people go through that phase of self-hating where he thought he would take a pill to stop being gay. But I don't think he'd take the pill anymore because then he has a husband and kids. I mean, he's literally the gayest. Listen, man, listen, man, he's from, where he from, Indiana? Yeah, that's right. That's the kind of white dude who want to be straight. He want to, I get it. He wants to military audition. I understand Pete. I mean, he could have stayed in the closet all night. Listen, y'all. He's deeper than a while. Listen, we're not going to get, we're not going to get, you know, my fellow Americans. That's not how we get. We're not going to get that. And Pete, it's not that. This is why this motherfucker can't run for office, dawg. He could be the first gay president because this motherfucker on paper is the president. He was mayor in fucking middle of nowhere, fucking Indiana. He went to the military, went to the fucking top college. He is tripping. That's a straight man. That's a straight white man on paper. He fucking tripping. Absolutely. But this motherfucker sucks dick. He should have pulled the Beyonce. He should have pulled the fucking Beyonce. Let me tell you something. We're not... He should have faked it till he fucking made it and then hit us with one of these when he became president. But that's not him, dawg. Because America's not going to vote for this shit right now. That's why he should have faked it. That's why he should have faked like a straight white man. He has zero percent. Stop voting in. Act like he was fucking bitches and then hit us with the walk and walk and dope. I somewhat... He should have faked it. I agree with that. But also, I just think, you know, like for him, it's like, listen, I'm trying to be here for all of y'all. If y'all would just shut the fuck up, dawg. Shut the fuck up. Let me... That was the same thing with Hillary. Hillary should have been like autumn white women. Shut the fuck up. Let me do this. He could have really... Because like the thing is Pete exists. Let me tell you something. Are you arguing for Pete? I'm arguing for Pete. Because let me tell you why. Because my mom, my mom during the campaign, mom, his campaign for presidency, my mom, at some point she got on the horn and she called me. She was like, I'm thinking about voting for Pete. And y'all don't know my mama. I'm like, you just was okay with me being gay yesterday. And now you want a motherfucker that stuck dick to run your country? That's progress. And my mama is light-skinned and in the same uh, sorority as Kamala Harris. I'm telling y'all right now, y'all not ready for them kind of problems. Counterpoint? No. Like I fucking see, he would have made a great president. He should have faked it like Beyoncé. When everybody was like, damn Beyoncé black, we should have been saying that about Pete. Oh shit. Pete a fruit cup? Hell yeah, he a fucking fruit cup. I like fruit cups. You sound like my uncle. The problem is not the fact that he gay. This is why America fucking make me sick. Why the fuck he got to be about being gay? What about who he is as a motherfucking person? He's a good person. You know he's worthy of a goddamn job. He got the stats. He did the fucking work. He did the homework. He's a man of America because he ain't fucking qualified. Man fuck y'all niggas man. Pete bitch. Pete bitch. You should be on his next step. Pete bitch. Pete bitch. That's what it is. And I, Pete if you out there, if you watching this higher, this nigga, okay, she will get you a lexie. But you got people out here listening to motherfuckers that was never in the motherfucking military, didn't fucking complete college. That's right. Don't know what the digits up here making up their own theories and ideologies. You got people listening to these motherfuckers. Ain't about to say Pete bitch. Pete bitch. Pete bitch. Pete bitch. And that's a great place to leave it. Thank you. It's great. Got me all riled up by hell crazy right now. Remember when punky said she was trying to be professional? Thank you to Alex, punky and River. Keep an eye over punky special. You just shot an L.A. Yes. You just shot the special. She killed that shit. And check out punky johnson, Riv butcher, Alex English with a three. Don't say it like that John. Laughing during my Instagram handle. That's crazy. During black history month? That's insane. And check out River at Laugh Camp Comedy Club in St. Paul on October 10th and 11th. All right, when we come back, it's the round wheel. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Lovator Leave It coming up. Lovator Leave It is brought to you by Helix. I love Helix mattress. The best. Talk about the data you saw from your wearable device. I don't have any data from any wearable device. I don't use them because I don't want that information. All I need is the data from my receptors on my body that say I'm comfortable. Wow. You got there. I did. It was a journey. Helix knows there's no better way to test any mattress than by sleeping on it in your own home. That's why they offer 100 night trial at a 10 to 15 year warranty to try out your new Helix mattress. I have a Helix mattress. I have the Dawn Luxe to take the quiz. That's what I got. Super comfortable. Last night, went to sleep early. Pundit woke me up with a scratch on the door. I let her out, brought her back in when right back upstairs, back in bed. Out. Out. Next thing I know, I'm in here recording with you. Here I am. Seconds later. So you take the quiz, you'll match you with a mattress. I got the Dawn Luxe because it's firm and very plush. It's great. You get a mattress and Helix. You won't be disappointed. They're great. I really genuinely do sleep on it every night. So go to helixsleep.com slash love it for 25% off site wide. That's helixsleep.com slash love it for 25% off site wide. Make sure you enter our show name after checkout so they know we sent you helixsleep.com slash love it. And we're back. Please welcome back to the stage, Representative Lee Finke. Now it's time for the rant. Well, you know how it works. You spin the wheel wherever it lands. We rant about a topic for one minute. There we go. I knew it. It is lying on a river. I knew it. What would you like to rant about? I'm going to rant about how cis white women hate me in the gym. I started working out. I'm a trans dude. That's what we do. A lot of people work out. But I started working out and I will go to the gym and I'll be minding my own business, doing my own thing. And then I'll say, hey, could I use these weights? And a cis white woman will be like, there are other weights in the rest of the gym. This is my time. Don't touch these weights. And I'm like, I just got here. I only just started using the men's restroom very, very recently. And look, I'm trying to change them. Guys, we don't have to live like that. I honestly think that's part of why trans guys are on this planet. You don't, it doesn't, don't poop in public so much. It's like you guys are waiting to do it. It's like it's 9.30 at a Billy Joel concert. You're going to miss piano, man. This was just about cis people. That's an interesting phenomenon not often explored, which is when trans guys start using the men's room and realize that they were wrong and made a huge mistake. That it wasn't worth it at all. Yo, I get excited when I see y'all at the gym. I'd be like, hey, what's up? Hey, what's up, brother? Yeah. Newcomer? Yeah. We out here? Yeah, welcome me. Me. Because really, really the two genders on our bathrooms are clean and disgusting. Well, the women's bathroom does have its own specific disgustingness. Which is what I know. Not a lot of peeing, not a lot of pooping. I didn't buy as a woman and come in and do it. Just come on in. I think men, look, I think the people, I think we should all just be going to the bathroom together, but that you should come see me do my stand up so I can tell you the whole thing. Because like women need to be around some more disgusting shit. I really think everybody does. And men need to see some more unexplained blood in their lives. It might make you guys like stop doing crazy shit. Just like, whoa, on the ceiling, yes. On a light day. Wow. Well, let's spin it again. It is landed on Lee. What is something you'd like to rant about? We talked, I was going to talk about shoes, but I heard there's a solution to that problem. We have a solution that's emerged. So instead, I'm going to rant about the sports conversation because one of my favorite things about talking about trans sports is it doesn't include people like jacked trans men who exist and play sports and dominate. And nobody is talking about how if we do what they want us to do, jacked trans men are going to be playing in these women's leagues. And it's really going to cause a problem for people who don't understand anything about gender or transness or trans identity. So, you know, I mean, my friend River is jacked. I heard that, yeah, they've been using some weights lately. I heard that he started lifting weights. Yeah. And just it drives me crazy that we have these conversations and we're talking about very poor athletes who are women like myself when we should be talking about people who are very good at baseball like River who could be really doing something important. So it pisses me off to no end. The lack of the fact that in all of their kind of imaginings, trans men don't exist as if like Nancy Mace is going in to kind of police the bathrooms and it's like, we talked about this show that like as an active protest like trans men need to visit the nation's capital en masse and just go to the bathroom. They have done that actually. That's cool. They should do that. They should do that. And I just, just to be kind of intellectually honest, like I think River is a terrible athlete. I assume. I think that's an important thing not to just gloss over. I did assume based on his gym attendance and love of baseball. Yeah, no, I'm pretty good. I'm pretty good. I'm pretty good. Okay, sure. I'm pretty good. The higher it goes, the less I'm convinced. Come on. Let's spin it again. Mm-hmm. Funky, what's something you would like to brand about? I just want to tell all the gay people that there are different regions of gay because I'll be on my page talking a whole bunch of shit. And as soon as I say something that don't align with the queer of all the queer, because everybody think we all supposed to be alike. So if I disagree with one thing about the gay people, the group where we supposed to be all inclusive, somebody come up on that motherfucking call me homophobic. Fuck you bitch. I've been fighting the gay fight for 30 motherfucking years. And also what y'all need to understand is it is different regions like I fucking say. So down in the South and Florida and Louisiana and Alabama and Georgia and Texas, we don't play that boy on boy gay shit nigga. That's gay. Okay. So when I say it on my page, that don't mean I'm homophobic. That just mean down in the dirtest South, we don't do two butchers because that's nasty bitch. Okay. So don't call me homophobic bitch. We just got different regions of gay and that's just how to fuck the goddamn cookie crumple. Okay. Fuck y'all. With five seconds to spare. It's nasty. Hell yeah. Two butchers is nasty. That's gay dog. That's against God's order. Hell yeah. Gay commissioner does not approve. They do all that shit in California. What we hear in California? Y'all keep that gay shit out here. Okay. We will. Okay. We will. Okay. We will. Okay. We will. Okay. We will. Okay. We will. Okay. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. Like, just ask your black friend what they care about and they choose to go off about that because like a month or so ago, that Sydney Sweeney ad came out with the good jeans or whatever and it's like, nobody gave a fuck about that, that was black. Nobody black cared about, nobody black saw that fucking ad. Because we have separate algorithms. The only reason I saw it was because I follow white people online and they posted about it and I'm like, oh, I guess what's the problem here? And everybody that was mad in the comments, everybody white. Literally like nobody, and Sydney Sweeney's a fine actress, yeah, big titties, yeah, we love her, like she's beautiful, you watch Euphoria, but it's just like, niggas who like watch Euphoria had to be reminding who Sydney Sweeney was. So some shit is just not always a big deal y'all, stand down. Right at the bell. That was beautiful. We are the worst. Yeah, yeah, for sure. No, no. Hey, come on. That's not what we're saying. Come on. I just said I loved white people, what, 20 minutes ago. I was kinda lying, but not all the way. I like y'all. Are there black people here? It's an away game tonight. And that's our show. Thank you so much to Lee Finkie, Alex English, Funky Johnson, River Butcher. We'll see you next week at Dynasty Typewriter. There are 416 days until the midterms. Have a great night and have a great weekend. If you're already scrolling endlessly, which we know you are, don't forget to follow us at Crooked Media on Instagram, TikTok and all the other ones for original content, community events and more. You can also find Love It or Leave It on YouTube for videos of your favorite segments and other YouTube exclusive content. And if you wanna type our praises or rip us a new one, consider dropping us a review. Finally, you can join Crooked's Friends of the Pod subscription community for ad-free Love It or Leave It and Pods of America episodes, subscriber exclusive pods and more. Sign up at Crooked.com slash Friends. Love It or Leave It is a Crooked Media production. It is written and produced by me, John Lovett and Lee Eisenberg. Kendra James is our executive producer. Bill McGrath is our producer and Kennedy Hill is our associate producer. Hallie Kiefer is our head writer. Sarah Lazarus, Jocelyn Coffin, Peter Miller, Alan Pierre and Suba Arigowal are our writers. Jordan Cantor is our editor. Kyle Seglund and Charlotte Landis provide audio support. Stephen Cologne is our audio engineer. Our theme song is written and performed by Sher Sher. Thanks to our designer, Sammy Kodurnarese for creating and running all of our visuals, which you can't see because this is a podcast. And thanks to our digital producers, David Tolles, Claudia Shang, Mia Kaumann, Dilan Villanueva and Rachel Gaysky for filming and editing video each week. Our head of production is Matt DeGroot and our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. Love It or Leave It Love It or Leave It Love It or Leave It