Mike Huckabee is making headlines for a transgender joke he made to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention back in February, comments that were picked up by BuzzFeed after World Net Daily posted the video over the weekend. Here's the joke:
- “Now I wish that someone told me that when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE. I’m pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, ‘Coach, I think I’d rather shower with the girls today.’ You’re laughing because it sounds so ridiculous doesn’t it?”
Huckabee made the joke after criticizing the notion that an adult man should be able to use a women's restroom, and perhaps encounter a young girl. "Today, we’re the ones who are ridiculed and scorned because we point out the obvious," he said. "That there’s something inherently wrong with forcing little children to be a part of this social experiment." Raw Story points out that he used a similar high school joke in 2013 after California decided to let students use whatever bathroom corresponds with their gender identity. Yesterday, OSHA issued guidelines saying that employers should enact similar policies at workplaces, notes the Hill. (The Huckabee joke surfaced as Caitlyn Jenner made her high-profile debut.)