Liberal comedian Bill Maher slammed the U.S. medical establishment for being “afraid” to admit that it was wrong for promoting transgender procedures for minors.

Maher made the remarks on his HBO show “Real Time” on Friday while discussing a recent landmark study published in March in the U.K. by Dr. Hillary Cass that concluded that minors should not be given transgender treatments. Later that month, England’s National Health Service (NHS) permanently banned giving puberty blockers to minors.

Maher said that the U.K. and other countries in Europe were so far ahead of the U.S. in dealing with the issue of transgenderism in minors that the U.S.’ policies are now considered to be obsolete.

“This is so symbolic of so much of woke excess — by thinking you’re so progressive, you’re actually behind,” he said.

Maher then read what Cass wrote: “The reality is that we have no good evidence on the long-term outcomes or interventions to manage gender related distress in kids. These are kids who wanted to switch sex. For most young people, a medical pathway will not be the best way. There’s no clear evidence that social transition in childhood has any positive or negative mental health outcomes. And the ideology on all sides has directed care.”

“So in other words, by trying to be so far ahead, United States — and this is not just England, this is all the Scandinavian countries, they’ve all pulled back on this,” Maher commented. “To me, this says a lot about where we went and hopefully we’re getting back to someplace sane, because yes, I don’t think we should doing medical interventions on kids before they can figure out who they are.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP

WATCH: Bill Maher on the new study about the problems associated with doctors transing kids: “I don’t think we should be doing medical interventions on kids before they can figure out who they are.”

Maher: “This is so, to me, symbolic of so much of woke excess, by thinking… pic.twitter.com/isbc4yzEXW

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 18, 2024