On the August 12 edition of Spotify’s The Joe Rogan Experience, comedian Andrew Schulz said an anti-trans slur while asserting, “QAnon is just like conservative t-----s. That’s really all they are.” Host Joe Rogan agreed with Schulz’s hateful rhetoric, claimed that being nonbinary is “very, very self-indulgent,” and said that trans people are “not experiencing real adversity or, you know, real discrimination, so you create discrimination against yourself.”
In reality, trans people face rampant discrimination in employment, housing, and health care, which in turn contributes to the community’s already high risks of suicide and violence.
Rogan has frequently used his platform to spread conspiracy theories, espouse COVID-19 misinformation, and promote smears against trans people. His show is broadcast exclusively on Spotify and is the most popular podcast on the platform. As The Washington Post has noted, “With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, Rogan reaches nearly four times as many people as prime-time cable hosts such as Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC.”
During the podcast’s recent episode, Rogan denigrated and misgendered singer Demi Lovato for coming out as nonbinary. Schulz also attacked nonbinary people, saying, “Are you doing this because you actually feel nonbinary or you’re doing this because its the most convenient way to get woke points?” (In accordance with the Trans Journalists Association style guide, Media Matters has replaced Demi Lovato’s incorrect pronouns in the transcript below.)