Fox's Shannon Bream doesn’t remark on Sen. Tom Cotton’s absurd claims about the Equality Act

Cotton: “Harvey Weinstein could transition to being a woman tomorrow, and the Equality Act would require the government to put him in a women's prison”

Special Programs LGBTQ

Written by Brianna January

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Fox News’ Shannon Bream -- part of the network’s so-called “news” side -- gave a platform to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) to misinform about the Equality Act, a bill extending nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ Americans. Bream allowed Cotton to lie that the bill would allow Harvey Weinstein -- who was convicted of rape and sexual assault -- to “transition to being a woman tomorrow” and be put “in a women’s prison” without correcting him or providing accurate context.

The Equality Act, considered in a March 17 Senate hearing, would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity “in both the public and private sectors, offering civil rights protections in businesses, hospitals and welfare services,” among other areas. In the absence of the Equality Act, LGBTQ Americans currently have a patchwork of protections across the country, with 27 states lacking explicit protections in their nondiscrimination measures.

During the March 17 segment, Cotton pushed a popular right-wing trope that trans women threaten other women’s safety, claiming, “If you run a battered women's shelter, and a man shows up and said he wants to be admitted in there — to a place where women are hiding from abusive, violent boyfriends and husbands — you might be sued. You might lose your government contracts.” Bream did not respond to these falsehoods.

The right has spent years peddling the debunked myth that sexual predators will exploit nondiscrimination laws to pretend to be transgender in order to sneak into women's restrooms and harm them. Bream and her guest failed to mention that women’s rights groups and advocates agree that the Equality Act would safeguard a variety of nondiscrimination protections for women and does not pose a threat to them. As Time has noted, “Sexual assault remains a crime no matter why someone claims they entered a women’s space.”

Furthermore, Bream failed to comment on Cotton’s absurd claim that Weinstein “could transition to being a woman tomorrow, and the Equality Act would require the government to put him in a women's prison.”

From the March 17, 2021, edition of Fox News' Fox News at Night with Shannon Bream

SHANNON BREAM (HOST): The Equality Act is something that is going to be working its way through the Senate, and there has been a lot of back and forth on this. If you question it, then you are a bigot and that you are undermining and supporting discrimination against the LGBTQ community. The Washington Post says this: “The Equality Act matches Americans’ fast-moving rejection of discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. More than 6 in 10 Americans say business owners should not be allowed to refuse services to LGBTQ people on the basis of religion."

Is that an accurate portrayal of the Equality Act, as you see it?

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): No, Shannon. This is a radical proposal. Of course, Americans think that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect, but they also want to respect the religious freedom of all Americans, and they want to uphold what, until just yesterday, seemed to be pretty commonsense notions. 

Look, more than 20% of the largest charities in America are faith-based. More than a trillion dollars of social goods are performed by those charities, but the Equality Act would threaten them all. 

Just to give you a few examples, Shannon: If you run a battered women's shelter, and a man shows up and said he wants to be admitted in there — to a place where women are hiding from abusive, violent boyfriends and husbands — you might be sued. You might lose your government contracts. Or churches, and Christian schools, and hospitals, again, could lose their tax-exempt status or be sued by Joe Biden's Department of Justice. 

Or, if you want a farcical but very real example, notorious Democratic megadonor and serial sexual predator Harvey Weinstein could transition to being a woman tomorrow, and the Equality Act would require the government to put him in a women's prison. 

This is the height of folly. We need to respect the rights of all Americans while continuing to treat all Americans with dignity and respect, but we shouldn't impose these kinds of radical laws on our society.

BREAM: That debate continues.