President Joe Biden on Friday criticized some extreme right-wing lawmakers for advancing a record number of bills restricting the rights of transgender people — particularly trans youth — in legislatures across the country.
In a proclamation marking Transgender Day of Visibility, Biden celebrated “the strength, joy, and absolute courage of some of the bravest people I know,” saying trans people in the U.S. deserve to be “safe and supported in every community.”
“MAGA extremists are advancing hundreds of hateful and extreme state laws that target transgender kids and their families,” he added. “No one should have to be brave just to be themselves.”
So far this year, more than 470 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in statehouses across the country, according to the Human Rights Campaign — with nearly 200 of them specifically restricting the rights of trans people. Per the organization, it’s “the highest number of bills targeting transgender people in a single year.”
Bills banning gender-affirming care for minors have already become laws in nine states — Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Dakota, Utah, Iowa, Georgia, Kentucky and West Virginia — despite opposition from nearly all major medical associations in the U.S., including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In Florida, a rule banning gender-affirming care for most transgender minors also went into effect.
“Let me be clear: These attacks are un-American and must end,” Biden said. “The bullying, discrimination, and political attacks that trans kids face have exacerbated our national mental health crisis. More than half of transgender youth say they have seriously considered suicide.”
A 2022 national survey on LGBTQ youth mental health by The Trevor Project — the world’s largest suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ youth — found that 45% of LGBTQ youth considered suicide in the past year, with one in five trans or nonbinary respondents reporting that they attempted suicide.
“Loving parents are terrified for their children’s future,” Biden said, vowing to “never quit fighting to end discrimination, to stand against these unjust state laws, and to guarantee everyone the fundamental right and freedom to be who they are.”
In 2021, Biden became the first U.S. president to issue a proclamation recognizing Transgender Day of Visibility, saying “transgender rights are human rights.”
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