Mario Lopez Apologizes For Suggesting Parents Shouldn't Declare 3-Yr-Olds 'Transgender'

In a statement issued to USA TODAY Wednesday, through his rep Lisa Perkins, the TV host and "Saved by the Bell" alum said: "The comments I made were ignorant and insensitive, and I now have a deeper understanding of how hurtful they were. I have been and always will be an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ community, and I am going to use this opportunity to better educate myself."

"Moving forward," he added, "I will be more informed and thoughtful.”

“I am trying to understand it myself, and please don’t lump me into that whole [group],” Lopez responded. “I’m kind of blown away too. Look, I’m never one to tell anyone how to parent their kids obviously and I think if you come from a place of love, you really can’t go wrong but at the same time, my God, if you're 3 years old and you’re saying you’re feeling a certain way or you think you’re a boy or a girl or whatever the case may be, I just think it's dangerous as a parent to make this determination then, well, OK, then you’re going to a boy or a girl, whatever the case may be ... It's sort of alarming and my gosh, I just think about the repercussions later on.”

He added, “When you’re a kid ... you don’t know anything about sexuality yet. You’re just a kid.”

We spoke with Extra and it is clear that the showrunners do not support or share his view. They will address this issue on the show tonight. Lopez clearly needs a primer on trans issues. We reached out to his team to see if and how he will correct the record.

— GLAAD (@glaad) July 31, 2019