Stephen Colbert Calls Out Trump's 'Cruelty' for Title IX Proposal to Define Transgender People Out of Existence

Stephen Colbert said what we were all thinking Monday night when reacting to President Donald Trump's administration citing science in a proposal to define transgender people out of existence.

"Oh, now you care about science," the CBS late-night host exclaimed during his "Late Show" monologue. "Wow. How convenient!"

Colbert was informing his audience about a New York Times report that a government memo shows the Department of Health and Human Services is trying to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans gender discrimination in education programs receiving financial assistance from the government. According to the report, the department is arguing government agencies needed to adopt an explicit and uniform definition of gender as determined "on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable."

This comes after President Trump campaigned on climate change being "a hoax," and of course Colbert pointed out the hypocrisy. In his Trump impression, Colbert joked, "'Look, I haven't reviewed the science on climate change but I am very interested in what science has to say about baby junk.'"

Colbert argued, "You can't just redefine something to make it go away," then joked, "I learned that the hard way when I tried to convince everyone in high school my nickname 'Skidmark' was because of all the cool driving moves I did."

The comedian called the proposed tweak to Title IX "more random cruelty from the Trump administration."

"Gender is clearly a spectrum. We know this," Colbert said. "For example, I identify as a man, but it's a little fluid. I enjoy getting my hands dirty and repairing boats, then again my favorite book is about elves and jewelry."

He is referring to his well-documented "Lord of the Rings" obsession, which even landed him a quick cameo in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit."