Slate: “Jon Stewart: Comedian. Political commentator. Liberal conscience of a nation (in the W. Bush era). Resistance™ hero. Occasional transphobic joke-maker. That guy from The Daily Show is back, and he’s got something new for East Coast liberal elites to pat themselves on the back over: On his new season of The Problem With Jon Stewart, the host aims his signature blend of jokey entertainment and substantive politics discussion at the topic of youth transgender health care….
In one segment, which has gone megaviral, Stewart interviews Leslie Rutledge, the attorney general of Arkansas, which is attempting to ban transgender youth and their families from accessing treatments recommended by every major medical association. …
The interview, and the entire episode (which is being offered for free on Apple TV+), is very good. It is good in the sense of being well researched and well edited, it is good in the sense of being morally righteous, and it is good in the sense of having the potential to make a real and lasting positive impact in the lives of trans people. If your instinct is to show your cynicism and scoff at a bunch of liberals cheering on a lefty celebrity without taking any real-world action, I’m here to tell you: This isn’t that. This is the real deal, the kind of rare celebrity moment that has the potential to really have an impact.
Critics of Stewart’s viral moment have pointed out that he is preaching to the choir. They say he won’t convince conservatives to see the light or change their ways, and he’s just giving people on the left a feel-good moment. This observation is accurate, but it misses the point of the potential here, for both the episode and the reception it’s received.
For too long, trans people have been struggling in vain against an enthusiasm gap between the rage-stoked, violent right and a left and center that have a few polite questions about whether maybe the conservatives have a point, and have we considered that there might be too many trans people? Stewart is giving the trans community what many had been losing hope of seeing, a moment where our cis allies took note of all the new, explicitly anti-trans laws that conservatives have pushed over the last year, as well as all the violent rhetoric (and, increasingly, violent actions) aimed at an incredibly vulnerable minority.”