Co-Host Howie Mandel, Man Claims Hair Loss Treatment Made Him Transgender
Our Co-Host for the day is the always funny actor, host and comedian Howie Mandel, who gives us the inside scoop about the finale of NBC's hit show, "America’s Got Talent."
It's the latest parenting controversy..."America's Worst Mom," Lenore Skenazy, is setting up and charging money for unsupervised play dates for kids. Our cameras follow Lenore's first after-school class to see what happens when she leaves children in a park and goes to Starbucks for 90 mins. -- after charging people $350!
Mandi, who was born male, speaks out for the first time, claiming that a hair loss treatment caused him to become transgender.
On today's show, Anderson says that through his years of reporting on transgender people, everyone he has ever interviewed said they knew they were different at a young age. Chaz Bono, who appeared on Season 1, told Anderson that while the world knew him as Chastity, he already knew he didn't want to dress in girl's clothing.
"Gender identity has nothing to do with sexuality -- nothing to do with who you're attracted to," says Anderson, adding, "It's about gender identity."
Today we hear Mandi's story, not to give the impression that what she says is what every transgender person goes through, but because everyone has their own experience, and we want to respect each and every person's story.
Unlock the exclusive Anderson Live Premiere Week sticker by checking into Get Glue all this week!
Comments
I am concerned about your comment: "If 50% of the population is gay, the chances of the children being harmed is I believe double what it was 40 years ago." Um, I will give you the benefit of the doubt that perhaps that did not come out as you intended.
I think the dangers have always been around and as you get older you are more aware of this...when we are young and have small kids, we take short cuts sometimes because we are overwhelmed with how difficult it is to keep an eye on them all the time. Whereas, with grandchildren, you are more attentive since you know it's for only a temporary period of time (they go home at the end of the day). So, while I agree that it is necessary to supervise kids, I don't think there are bigger dangers now. I think less kids are aware of their surroundings because we over-supervise and so more kids get into trouble since they don't know the warning signs of when to get out of a bad situation. We need to prepare them for life, in a safe way. The media does a good job of reporting all the dangers...much better than they used to.
Not to sure about Mandy, but as for myself i have taken this drug for over 7 years, It helped my hair loss quiet a lot, but it did Effect my sexual desire with my Beautiful Wife by about 75% of the time if not more, Also Ejaculation was just a few drops, Hard ons wouldn't last long at all, I used to have a Chest Guys Envied, Now they are Men Boobs, I'm a Nervous Wreck, Suffer from Server Depression, All Most of the worst Side Effects of this Medication Started once i got off of it, I was a Panic Freak, Depressed even more, Man Boobs still there, No Sexual Desire at all.
According to Merck The drug maker of Propecia all these symptoms would leave and go away within time, Here i am 4 years later and i'm worse now then ever, Unless you have taken this medication and your a Man You Really Cant put yourselves in our shoes, I have thought of Suicide 100's of Times, but i'm still hanging in there, For a drug like this to take away your Manhood and Rob you from life's finest Pleasure and Rob My Wife of my Sexual Company is probably the most devastating thing to happy to me and my Family, its like i'm almost dead with no feelings, Don't ever Recommend this drug to friends or Family or even your worst Enemies, as far as ladies on here commenting You have no say or could never ever understand unless your a man and have you Manhood taken away, its almost as if i was castrated.
As far as Mandy goes, well maybe He was so Depressed in not getting any Sexual Desire, and Suffered from Depression as well May have complicated his situation more Severe, Remember this Drug Damages men in more then a Few Ways. So i wont be the one to past judgement on Mandy and i have no idea what this drug as done to Him and his insides, This Drug is a Train Wreck. And everyone who has taken this drug should SUE Merck, Even if there symptoms were light, we must punish these big Drug Companies that are getting away with Murder, and literally Murder People with there drugs.
seems most of the people commenting on here are Transsexuals by choice or for what ever Reason, or Ladies who don't have a Penis and know what its like to have it killed by a drug, Or men that Never Taken this Drug, Please guys lets hear the stories from someone that as taken this drug before you pass Judgement on others.
I'm sorry Anderson, but I echo many of the others' feelings on this. As much as I admired your own 'coming out' story, I've now completely lost respect for your professionalism and integrity. I mean just their (Mandy's) online presence began a few months ago. For such a serious medical problem, they seem to have a strong interest in increasing their own publicity, rather suddenly. To compare the transexual population in general and the struggles they face day-to-day to this obvious publicity stunt is more than disrespectful to the LGBT population as a whole. As a member of this community, you should be ashamed. Just their facebook profile and blog are an example of how ficticious the whole thing seems. It's also as if this person is clamining they're 'sick' because of big pharma, and not because that's who they are or how they were born, because that would be shameful (what their story implies). I'm not a professional, but I know transgender and transexual people. If there's a medical condition here, it seems a lot more like some form dissociation, with the claim that their old self is suddenly gone? and because of one drug? even though it has been in the market for the past two decades. If you actually interviewed a majority of transexual persons, you would know this doesn't just occurs or comes up in a matter of months, let alone because of one specific drug. I could not say that this person is not transexual, no one but qualified professionals would actually be able to assert this, but the whole publicity and the excuse that such a drug would suddently cause all of this seems highly disingenuous.
From his blonde wig not covering his obviously male brown sideburns, to his ridiculous story about propecia, this Mandi character is just BS, out to extort the pharmaceutical company - with a claim against a product he bought from an unaccountable online overseas pharmacy? Oh please! Anderson Cooper should have exposed that nonsense rather than trivialize the experience of those of us honestly dealing with gender identity issues.Why give this clown any credability at the expense of our trans brothers and sisters?
Maybe next you can interview the guy who claims he hit his head and woke up a gay hairdresser! How do you think that reflects on the reality of your sexuality?
I wish you would have not had this person Mandi on your show. I feel this person is just trying to make money or something.
I also think that a persons story like this persons HURTS the Transgender community, I hope your not some how against us.
I'm really upset about this, I hope you will be responsible when it comes to a proper representation of transgender Girls and Guys in the future, its hard enough for most of us, we don't really need things like this.
Most people have a very, very hard time understanding this Please think about it.
Erin
Despite the fact that Ms Skenazey is a publicity seeking fool, who are the parents that would let her be around their children, and actually pay her to expose their children to dangerous situations? VCM
Louise2000, tell your husband to take PROPECIA. I guarentee you he'll want to join you for a "girls' night out"
"I plan to sue Merck for $1 Billion." says Mandy and Michelle, her ex-wife, who have posted this on their website..... Looks like Mandy and Michelle's intentions are to hurt the drug manufacturer for profit. But that suit will also put other drug manufacturers on high alert to become negative about hormone replacement therapy, thus raising their drug prices to cover this type of liability. That will make it more expensive for a person to transition using hormone therapy drugs, which is another expense hurdle to jump over for transgender people seeking to transition.
This is a pack of disgusting, shameless lies. If you were better people you'd be ashamed of yourselves for this.
You have got to be kidding? You are actually going to run with this outrageous lie about finesteride causing Transsexualism? Wow Anderson, this pretty much brings an end to your respecting Transsexual people, your credibility, and your professionalism in one fell swoop. How can you possibly put this person on camera when there isn't a medical professional in the world who would back this story up? Finesteride blocks dihydrotestosterone, which is what causes miniaturization of the scalp hair follicles. It cannot change a person's gender identity, any more than it can change their height. If this person is Transsexual, then she was BORN Transsexual, and simply chose not to deal with it until now. Using finesteride as an explanation for coming out is laughable. Talk about a sucker born every minute. This is an absolute disgrace, and an insult to every intelligent Transsexual person in the world. You will be doing our community, and the general public, a great disservice by giving this charlatan a platform from which to dispense this balderdash. The public is already painfully ill-informed about Transsexualism. The last thing we need are highly visible people like you confusing them even more. You are betraying the very community from which you hail. Shame on you.
You have got to be kidding? You are actually going to run with this outrageous lie about finesteride causing Transsexualism? Wow Anderson, this pretty much brings an end to your respecting Transsexual people, your credibility, and your professionalism in one fell swoop. How can you possibly put this person on camera when there isn't a medical professional in the world who would back this story up? Finesteride blocks dihydrotestosterone, which is what causes miniaturization of the scalp hair follicles. It cannot change a person's gender identity, any more than it can change their height. If this person is Transsexual, then she was BORN Transsexual, and simply chose not to deal with it until now. Using finesteride as an explanation for coming out is laughable. Talk about a sucker born every minute. This is an absolute disgrace, and an insult to every intelligent Transsexual person in the world. You will be doing our community, and the general public, a great disservice by giving this charlatan a platform from which to dispense this balderdash. The public is already painfully ill-informed about Transsexualism. The last thing we need are highly visible people like you confusing them even more. You are betraying the very community from which you hail. Shame on you.
So sad, so disappointing, to see Anderson Cooper jump the shark at the expense of trans people. As other commenters have noted, Mr. Cooper would never sensationalize a cisgender gay man making such a claim about the "cause" of his sexual orientation. Thursday's show illustrates the double standard, the disparate status, that trans and especially transsexual people endure in the media and within the dominant cis-gay/lesbian movements. Moreover, Ms. McKee (the subject of the show) has a web site that puts her narrative and her PR campaign in perspective:
"I plan to sue Merck for $1 Billion."
see http://mandimckee.com/my-story/
Anderson,
I am shocked that Anderson would stoop to the level of people like Jerry Springer and Maury Povich to effectively bash transgender people with the segment on "Mandi".
Perhaps HIS baldness medication had side effects, perhaps the manufacturer and/or doctors have not been as forthcoming as they should about possible side effects.
However, a drug does not make one transgender. A drug, even a hormone, does not turn a "man" into a "woman". Drugs, hormone or otherwise, does not cause a man to want or need to dress, or present themselves as a woman.
"Mandi" is, even in the eyes of many identifying as transgender, is a freak and greatly in denial regarding the why HE presents Himself as a woman.
To provide this half shaven, wig wearing, freak a stage upon which HE makes the claim that some drug "turned him into a woman" "made him transgender", is not only an affront to all people who are genuinely transgender, it is just bad journalism.
As a gay man, one would think you would not do such a thing. tell me Anderson, are you going to do a show with some horrible and invalid stereotype of a gay man, claims he got that way from aspirin?
As a gay woman with many transgender friends, let me say that your show did more harm to a segment of the LGBT community, specifically those transgender, than Springer and Povich combined.
Why? Because you have (had) a reputation of being a fair and accurate journalist.
Your putting on ridiculous and inaccurate segment such as this, simply provides fodder for the bigoted, ignorant, people in this world to attack and ridicule an already maligned segment of the population.
Perhaps you have forgotten what it was like to be a gay person 10 to 20 years ago? How you might have felt when somebody would provide a stage for people to bash gay people with authority.
Welcome to entertainment journalism.
Where do you go next Anderson? Fox news?? The National Enquirer?
Remember your history Gay Man.
I really wished you hadn't changed to co-host format, you are such a good interviewer on your own.
The lead in for the hair-loss-made-me-transgender story seems kind of creepy to this reader. The NCTE statement gave me pause as well. I'm a trans person, but I'm also resigned to the fact we are figures of curiosity on exhibition. It does make me sad though. So much rides on how people accept us -- work, housing, safety -- and this could easily be something not very helpful, a truth without context.
Technically finasteride is given to trans folks as an anti-androgen, as well as for hair loss (and some other, scary stuff). My first anti-androgen made me trans! could indeed touch on issues of embodiment and what it means to hack the expression of your genome (hint: if you like it, you are indeed potentially a certain sort of trans). But y'know, people got fired and beat up today in America for being trans, which makes chin stroking the subtle variations a bit hard to consider.