On Saturday, April 15, the popular US comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live (SNL) introduced its first non-binary cast member, Molly Kearney. Following their introduction, Kearney slammed conservative legislation by declaring, “If you don’t care about trans kids’ lives, it means you don’t care about fricking kids’ lives.”

They made the impassioned plea as part of the ‘Weekend Update’, SNL’s longest-running recurring sketch. The sketch mimics a newsroom with cast members and writers performing the role of news anchors delivering satirical takes on current affairs and politics.

During the segment, fellow performer Michael Che introduced Kearney informing the audience, “Since the start of this year, over 400 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced across the country, many of which directly target trans youth.”

He continued, “Here to talk about it is someone with their own introduction.” As he looked overhead, Kearney was lowered into the scene, suspended from a harness. 

After quipping about how tight the harness was in the “groin area”, they joked, “I’ve been hung up on my genitals for far too long, and I’m starting to feel like a fricking Republican lawmaker.”

Kearney, who uses they/them pronouns, made history in September 2022 when it was announced that they would be joining the show for season 48 as the first-ever non-binary cast member of SNL.

 

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A post shared by Molly ?Kearney (@meatbrickmolly)

Highlighting the reason for the segment, Che interjected, “As of this week, there are now over 14 states that have passed bills restricting healthcare for trans kids.”

Kearney retorted, “Listen to that, Michael. Restricting healthcare for kids. For some reason, there’s something about the word ‘trans’ that makes people forget the word ‘kids’.”

Kearney and Che continued to use the harness as a prop to jibe at the current situation regarding the use of pronouns and trans rights.

As the sketch closed with Kearney being winched back into the air, mid-way up, Kearney shouted, “Oh wait a minute, before I go, I want to talk to you.”

They continued, “What’s happening, kids, is wrong, and you don’t need to be scared. Our job is to protect you, and your job is to focus on being a kid.” 

Lightening the tone, they finished, “It’s kind of like me flying in the SNL sky; there’s a bunch of dudes asking you about your crotch and controlling when and where you’re allowed to pee, but if you just hang on, you’ll look up and you’ll realise you’re flying, kid.”