Here’s the Pro-Trans John Cleese Sketch From ‘The Meaning of Life’ to Celebrate Its 40th Anniversary

Today, we celebrate two special occasions – each year, March 31 is dedicated to the International Transgender Day of Visibility, and this year’s March 31 also marks the 40-year anniversary of Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. Though that seems to be an instance of unremarkable happenstance, it does remind us of an important point that is worth remembering considering the current state of certain Monty Python members – The Meaning of Life has an accidental and prescient pro-trans joke in a John Cleese sketch. 

In the last few years, Cleese has sadly made a heel-turn into “old man yells at cloud” archetype of cancel culture comedy complainers, and he even signed on to host a show on GB News, a conservative TV station often referred to as the “British Fox News.” When J.K. Rowling publicly declared her opposition to the so-called “transgender movement,” Cleese came to her defense online, tweeting some head-scratchers such as “I'm afraid I'm not that interested in trans folks,” and “Deep down, I want to be a Cambodian police woman. Is that allowed, or am I being unrealistic?”

In the sketch titled “The Miracle of Birth,” the late, great Graham Chapman made an offhand joke that today’s Cleese would probably denounce as some sort of transgender indoctrination. A mother asks Chapman’s doctor character if her newborn child is a boy or a girl, prompting his response, “Now, I think it's a little early to start imposing roles on it, don't you?”

So there you go John Cleese, you were present at a birth that's all grown-up in 2023. Too bad you haven't followed.