Late last June, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of gay marriage. It was a momentous day for the LGBT communities, and it took only two days for John Oliver, the host of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO, to produce a 14-minute segment that broke down the ruling and dissected the truths about LGBT rights.
In each episode, the show offers satirical takes on some of the flaws of society or prominent people. And although he is only in his second season as a host, Oliver has already targeted the unfair treatment of members of the LGBT community twice.
On Aug. 23, Oliver completed his second segment about how shocking it is that the discrimination against homosexual and transgender individuals is still somehow legal. Oliver first skewered a restaurant named “Big Earl’s” in Texas that refused service to a gay couple and then discussed a Michigan doctor who refused to treat a lesbian couple’s baby.
Oliver explained that although both of these scenarios are clearly appalling, this discrimination against LGBT individuals is still legal, begging the natural question: How is this still possible? Oliver’s segment culminated in him calling for a serious change: an anti-discrimination law against members of the LGBT community.
Oliver’s defense of LGBT issues runs parallel to those offered by Jon Stewart, the host of “The Daily Show” until it ended last month.
Stewart, on air for 16 years, took on a vast breadth of issues during his reign and, on April 30, even scoffed at some of the anti-gay judges on the Supreme Court for their shoddy reasoning. For instance, he ridiculed Chief Justice John Roberts for his claim that allowing gay marriage would “change the definition” of marriage as we know it.
Stewart gained many more fans when he quipped that “the institution of marriage has never not been changing. Change can be good.” This statement was received with an uproarious standing ovation from the studio audience.
Stewart and Oliver are just two examples of talk show hosts who have delved into this hot-button topic in the past few months, their consistent calls to action preceding the Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage.
Gay marriage has made America a better place to live for all of us, teaching people to be more accepting and tolerant of those around them. Oliver’s and Stewart’s comedic satire has helped generate dialogue around gay marriage, preventing it from being a proposition merely tiptoed around by culturally besieged Americans.
Stewart and Oliver have dedicated the focus of some of their shows to finding laughable aspects of this contentious issue, and that’s a difficult task to master. They have shown Americans that the answer to a seemingly complex and heavily disputed issue is sometimes short and sweet. As John Oliver says, “The answer to ‘Should gay people be discriminated against?’ is plain and simple. No.”
