Television personality Mario Lopez came under fire following comments made during an interview with conservative firebrand Candace Owens. Lopez was responding to a question about the “weird trend” in Hollywood where celebrities are raising their children at the gender of their choosing.
Lopez said that it was “dangerous” to raise a child as transgender at such a young age which immediately led to criticism online saying that the entertainment host was transphobic and insensitive.
What exactly did Lopez say to create the social media storm?
“Look, I’m never one to tell anyone how to parent their kids, obviously, and I think if you come from a place of love, you really can’t go wrong. But at the same time, my God, if you’re 3 years old and you’re saying you’re feeling a certain way, or you think you’re a boy or a girl or whatever the case may be, I just think it’s dangerous as a parent to make that determination then — ‘Okay, well then you’re going to be a boy or a girl,’ whatever the case may be. It’s sort of alarming and my gosh, I just think about the repercussions later on.”
Well, he has now apologized.
“The comments I made were ignorant and insensitive, and I now have a deeper understanding of how hurtful they were,” Lopez said in a statement, via Variety.com. “I have been and always will be an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ community, and I am going to use this opportunity to better educate myself. Moving forward I will be more informed and thoughtful.”
Lopez had also made controversial comments about the #MeToo and #BelieveWomen movements.
And while it is fair to criticize someone for comments that may be insensitive, it is important to allow Lopez the opportunity to grow and to hope he can only learn from the public response. Judging by his apology, he’s heading in the right direction.