Episode 1857: Seth Dillon | The Brogan Report

Introduction

Episode 1857 featured Seth Dillon, CEO of satirical news website The Babylon Bee, in a conversation that platformed anti-transgender rhetoric disguised as debates about free speech and satire. While the episode touched on various political topics including abortion and social media moderation, it primarily served to legitimize The Babylon Bee’s pattern of deliberately misgendering and mocking transgender individuals as protected political speech.

The Guest: Seth Dillon

Seth Dillon is an entrepreneur who serves as CEO of The Babylon Bee, a conservative satirical news website. While satire can be a legitimate form of political commentary, The Babylon Bee under Dillon’s leadership has become known for content that specifically targets LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly transgender people.

According to an investigation by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch, The Babylon Bee and its sister site Not the Bee have published over 800 stories tagged with labels like “Transgenderism,” “Trans Cult,” “LGBT,” and “Trans the Kids” that frequently misgender and mock the appearances of transgender people (SPLC Hatewatch).

The Rachel Levine Incident

A central topic of this episode was The Babylon Bee’s Twitter suspension in March 2022 for posting “The Babylon Bee’s Man of the Year Is Rachel Levine,” deliberately misgendering the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health who is a transgender woman. The post was made in response to USA Today naming Dr. Levine as one of its Women of the Year (The Advocate).

The “Free Speech” Defense

Dillon framed his refusal to delete the tweet as a matter of principle, stating “They want us to bend the knee and admit that we engaged in hateful conduct” and “Truth is not hate speech” (Newsweek).

This framing is misleading for several reasons:

Deliberate misgendering is not “truth”: Medical and scientific consensus recognizes that transgender women are women. The American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, and American Academy of Pediatrics all affirm transgender identities as valid (AMA policy).
Harm beyond “offense”: Deliberate misgendering contributes to a hostile environment that correlates with real-world harm. Studies show transgender individuals who experience rejection and discrimination face significantly higher rates of suicide attempts, depression, and anxiety (The Trevor Project, 2022 National Survey).
Platform policies vs. government censorship: Twitter’s enforcement of its hateful conduct policy is not a free speech violation—it’s a private company’s terms of service. Dillon remained free to publish his views on his own platforms.

Pattern of Anti-LGBTQ+ Content

The Rachel Levine incident was not isolated. The SPLC investigation found:

The Babylon Bee properties promoted content from Chaya Raichik (Libs of TikTok) 96 times, despite her being identified as an anti-LGBTQ+ extremist
Articles used dehumanizing language, calling a pediatrician who provides gender-affirming care a “child butcherer”
Stories referred to transgender athletes using terms like “little farce”

This pattern of content creates and reinforces narratives that transgender people are deceptive, mentally ill, or dangerous—narratives that fuel discrimination and violence (Human Rights Campaign, 2023 report on anti-trans violence).

The Abortion Debate: No Exceptions for Rape

During the episode, a heated exchange occurred when the topic shifted to abortion rights. Dillon took an absolutist stance that shocked even Joe Rogan, arguing against abortion even in cases of rape.

When Rogan brought up the hypothetical of his 14-year-old daughter being raped, stating “You don’t have the right to tell my 14-year-old daughter she has to carry her rapist’s baby,” Dillon maintained his position: “I don’t think two wrongs make a right. I don’t think murder is the answer… I don’t think murder fixes a rape” (Newsweek).

Dillon’s position represents an extreme view that would force children and rape victims to carry pregnancies to term against their will. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), pregnancy in young adolescents carries significantly higher risks of maternal mortality, preterm delivery, and other complications. The psychological trauma of forcing a rape victim to carry their attacker’s child is well-documented in medical literature.

This absolutist stance - that life begins at conception with no exceptions - would have devastating real-world consequences if implemented as policy, including:

Forcing child rape victims to carry pregnancies
Increasing maternal mortality, especially among minors
Causing severe psychological trauma to rape and incest victims
Denying women basic bodily autonomy even in the most extreme circumstances

The Platforming Problem

By hosting Dillon and allowing him to frame both deliberate misgendering as a principled stand for “truth” and extreme anti-abortion positions as moral consistency, Rogan provided a massive platform (millions of listeners) for rhetoric that marginalizes both transgender people and rape victims. The episode featured no counterbalancing voices from LGBTQ+ advocates, medical professionals who treat transgender patients, or reproductive rights experts.

While Rogan did push back on Dillon regarding abortion, particularly on cases involving rape (Variety), he did not apply similar scrutiny to Dillon’s anti-transgender positions.

Real-World Context

This episode aired in August 2022, during a period of escalating anti-transgender legislation and rhetoric:

By August 2022, over 20 states had introduced or passed bills restricting transgender youth access to healthcare, sports participation, or bathroom usage
The Human Rights Campaign declared a “state of emergency” for LGBTQ+ Americans in June 2023, citing unprecedented attacks on rights
Anti-LGBTQ+ violence, particularly against transgender individuals, has increased significantly, with 2021 being the deadliest year on record at that time

Platforming voices that frame anti-transgender rhetoric as principled free speech contributes to normalizing discrimination and can embolden further attacks on LGBTQ+ rights and safety.

Conclusion

Episode 1857 exemplifies how debates about “free speech” and “cancel culture” can serve as vehicles for platforming harmful rhetoric against marginalized communities. While satire and political commentary are protected forms of expression, deliberately misgendering transgender individuals and mocking their identities goes beyond legitimate critique into dehumanization.

The episode would have benefited from:

Including transgender voices or medical experts on gender-affirming care
Examining the documented harms of anti-transgender rhetoric
Distinguishing between legitimate political satire and content that targets vulnerable populations
Acknowledging the power differential between a major media platform and a marginalized community facing real-world violence and discrimination

Instead, it presented Dillon’s anti-transgender positions as merely controversial opinions worthy of equal consideration in the marketplace of ideas, without grappling with the human cost of normalizing such rhetoric.