Liberal: Questioning Trans Claims Isn’t Bigotry

As nearly 20% of Gen Z kids identify as LGBTQ, Bill Maher declares on his HBO show: “When things change this much this fast, people are allowed to ask ‘What’s up with that?’ ” “We should always be mindful of respecting and protecting” the LGBTQ, but “not everything’s about you.” “The answer” to questions about children’s gender identity isn’t “Anyone from a marginalized community is always right” — “because we’re literally experimenting on children.” “Common sense should tell you that when you reverse the course of raging hormones, there’s going to be problems” and “weighing trade-offs” in pediatric gender treatments “is not bigotry.” Refusing to admit that some LGBTQ self-identity is driven by “trends” means striking a “blow in the culture war using children as cannon fodder.”

Science beat: Monkeypox Not the Next COVID

Coverage of monkeypox “looks like yet another wave of media hysteria of the kind all too common since COVID-19 emerged two years ago,” Toby Green explains at Unherd. Yes, “cases have been detected in the Western world . . . but in small numbers.” And “unlike COVID-19, this is not a ‘new virus’. It’s been circulating in equatorial Africa since the 1970s.” It killed 75 last year in “the Democratic Republic of Congo, without any sign that anyone cared.” Plus, “symptoms are mild among most of those who get infected. Moreover, monkeypox is not highly transmissible . . . close physical contact is required for spread.”

Libertarian: America’s Nuclear Red Tape

Thanks to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s “stately pace of regulatory reform, the first innovative nuclear reactors designed by American companies may well begin operation in Eastern Europe before they get built in Idaho,” grumbles Reason’s Ronald Bailey. Oregon’s NuScale Power just signed an agreement to deploy its “innovative small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) in Poland by 2029.” But this same technology won’t be “powering homes and businesses” in America anytime soon, as “NuScale has been working with the NRC for years and remains stymied by bureaucratic obstacles. The company began its pre-application meetings with the NRC in 2008,” and is still waiting for the NRC to issue a “standard design certification.” And “the same can be said for other advanced reactor designs wrapped in the NRC’s red tape.”

Vatican watch: Abandoning Chinese Catholics

“The outrageous arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen last week — together with the Vatican’s weak response — presages dark days for Catholics under Beijing’s authority,” Jane Stannus writes at Spectator World. Zen “is known . . . for his fearless defense of Chinese Catholics and his opposition to communism.” When Beijing’s National Security Law went into effect last year, he chose to stay in Hong Kong, saying he was “prepared to suffer the arrest and trials.” The Vatican’s response to his May 11 arrest on charges of “foreign collusion” thanks to his work providing “legal and humanitarian” aid to pro-democracy protesters? Expressing “concern,” nothing more, so as to not complicate “the Holy See’s dialogue with China.” This fails to “understand” that the “insult” isn’t just to Zen, but “the Catholic Church as an institution.”

Conservative: Musk’s Telling Turn

“The world was stunned” by Elon Musk’s move to buy Twitter, cheers Roger Kimball at American Greatness. “I have long been a fan of this Rocket Man, notwithstanding his mantras about ‘sustainable transport’ and other sops from the green agenda,” for “his technological prowess, his hard work and his amazing products. Now I find myself applauding his political savvy and efforts on behalf of free speech.” And the “left’s misery continues to Elongate” as the Tesla CEO announced he’s “moved from being a moderate Democrat to being a moderate Republican.” Musk’s “growing political maturity is not a one-off or an individual data point,” but part of “a gathering sea change” against “the extremism of identity politics.” It’ll take time, but we’re already seeing “an awakening from wokeness.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board