Ron DeSantis has appointed a man to oversee Walt Disney World,
which is located in Orlando, Florida, of course.
This is after the whole debacle of Disney speaking out against the don't
say gay bill.
And then Ron DeSantis retaliating against them by doing away with their autonomy in
this district.
Well, now he is appointing people to oversee the district and
one of them is insane.
In fact, Ron Peri, who is an Orlando based former pastor and the CEO
of The Gathering, which is a Christian ministry focused on outreach to men.
Is concerned about tap water, turning people gay and no,
he is not Alex Jones, he is a different person.
Okay, so what was the argument?
Well, Peri called homosexuality evil last year and
shared a baseless conspiracy theory that tap water could be making more people gay.
He thinks that there is too much estrogen in the water and
that is what is leading to a change in people's sexual orientation.
So why are there homosexuals today?
He said.
>> I can't wait to find out.
>> There are any number of reasons, you know, that are given,
some would say the increase in estrogen in our societies.
You know, there's estrogen in the water from birth control pills.
They can't get it out.
The level of testosterone in men broadly in America has declined by 50 points in
the last 10 years.
You know, and so, maybe that's part of it, he says.
He also continued unfortunately, by saying, but the big part I would
suggest to you based upon what it's saying here, is the removal of constraint.
So our society provided the constraint.
And so,
which is the responsibility of a society to constrain people from doing evil?
Well, you remove the constraints, and then evil occurs.
What he's arguing there is, we used to brutalize gay people and
we don't do that anymore, At least not to the extent that I would like to see.
And so if we're not brutalizing them, then more people are gonna feel comfortable
being their true selves if they're gay,
that's what he's saying in that last quote.
Okay, the other thing is, no, there isn't estrogen in the water.
That is, it's a lie, right?
I mean, I don't know if he's ill informed or if he's intentionally lying.
And even if there was an insane amount of estrogen in the water,
estrogen doesn't turn people gay, that's not how it works [LAUGH].
>> Well, and you got point, I got a counterpoint.
I lived in Miami, which is of course in Florida for three years.
And back then, well, a little bit after I arrived, I became gay.
And when I moved to California where there's not estrogen in the water,
I became straight again.
Said no one ever because this guy is a lunatic, okay?
So, all right guys, but there is one thing he's saying that is true.
He's saying the lack of constraint is leading to more gay people.
It's not leading to more gay people, but
it is leading to more people saying all right, yeah, I'm gay, okay?
Or I'm bi or I'm non-binary or all these other things.
The part where he's monstrously wrong is,
can you believe they're being their true self?
No, their true self is evil, me hating them, getting you to hate them,
and oppress them and take away their rights is good and moral.
No, I got news for you, you're deeply evil and by the way, so
is Ron DeSantis who put you in charge here.
>> But also Ron Peri, I mean, I just, I don't understand,
unless you're dealing with your own weird guilt and
self hatred, I don't understand the obsession with wanting
to essentially brutalize the gay community, right?
They have no impact on your life, why are you so obsessed with this?
>> So guys, look, we talk about that from time to time, but
think about the context here.
So religion unfortunately has a lot of things that are true and
a lot of things that are untrue, okay?
The Bible to Quran etc., is filled with absurdities, let's keep it real.
Read it, if you think really the goat's blood in the corner of the Tabernacle is
gonna solve your problems, okay, then you'll believe anything.
And that's part of the issue.
>> I got a liter of it in the fridge right now.
>> Okay, [LAUGH] no- >> I don't.
>> They'll believe it, don't say it, okay?
So now, but religion can also do a lot of good in the world.
And we've got a lot of folks who are preachers and pastors etc.,
that are in our audience and are wonderful human beings.
And so when you read the Bible as an example, it's the same of all
the books you can say, hey, you know what, it says, take care of the poor, the needy,
the homeless, the prostitutes, the, this, that other thing.
And make sure that you're loving and caring and turn the other cheek, and
all these wonderful things that are in the Bible.
Or you could read the Bible and go, it doesn't like gays.
The real problem is, they actually are both in there, let's be honest, okay?
And by the way, that shrimp, right, that's my favorite one.
Okay, so you can pick that, no one picks the hating the people who eat shrimp who
are an abomination because it's weird, it doesn't serve their purpose.
It doesn't serve anybody's purpose.
If you're a good person, helping the poor and
the needy serves your purpose of being a good person.
If you're a bad person or you're worried you're gay and you hate yourself for
it, you pick the part about hating gays in the Bible and the Quran and then you go,
uh-huh that's what the Bible is actually about, hatred of others.
And so if you're a real Christian out there or any of these religions, people
like Ron Perry and DeSantis who promotes them, are destroying your religion and
what other people view your religion, the view of others that people have for you.
And proselytizing your religion because they're making your religion look
like it's immoral and deeply evil that if you see someone that it doesn't like,
it's actually disagreeing with God.
God created that person gay, but I think God made a mistake.
I think God is wrong and ridiculous and I want everybody to hate that gay person.
Well, if that's the view of your religion,
no one's gonna wanna sign up for that, right?
So, it's doing so much damage, not just to gay people but
to the religion itself as well.
>> Now, one final thing that I'll mention is that testosterone levels have decreased
in men, not to the extent that he's alleging, that's insane and ridiculous.
But, maybe we should consider the pollution and
the harm that we're doing to the planet.
One of the things that I've been concerned about is how chemicals in plastic,
some of the chemicals, mimic estrogen,
which is why young girls are beginning puberty, younger and younger, right?
But I mean, that's a smart conversation to have and
these insane zealots aren't interest in that.