The Advocate
President Donald Trump marked Transgender Day of Visibility with a White House statement attacking transgender Americans and broader gender diversity, reviving rhetoric that LGBTQ+ advocates say stigmatizes an already vulnerable community. Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ + news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter. In a release published Tuesday, the White House declared that Trump had “ended Democrats’ transgender for everybody insanity,” describing transgender identity as an ideological project rather than a recognized aspect of human diversity. The statement also attacked the previous administration, claiming, “Two years ago today, the Biden Administration desecrated Easter Sunday with a ‘transgender’ message that elevated radical leftist ideology over faith, family, and biological truth.” Related: Kids can be subjected to harmful 'conversion therapy,’ U.S. Supreme Court rules Related: White House responds to weird Republican outrage over Transgender Day of Visibility coinciding with Easter It continued by asserting that the Trump administration is now “celebrating a decisive victory” through “the swift and unrelenting dismantling of subversive, woke policies that endangered children, eroded women’s rights, assaulted common sense, and dragged America toward moral and cultural decline.” Transgender Day of Visibility is held annually on March 31, a date set since the observance was founded in 2009, independent of the Christian liturgical calendar. In 2024, March 31 coincided with Easter Sunday. That year, then-President Joe Biden i ssued the same type of annual proclamation recognizing Transgender Day of Visibility that the White House has released in prior years. The statement acknowledged transgender Americans and called for equality, but did not replace or “elevate” the observance of Easter, which was also recognized separately. As The Advocate has reported, critics at the time seized on the coincidence to frame the proclamation as an affront to Christianity, even though the date of Transgender Day of Visibility is constant and Easter moves each year. The White House release also touted a series of administration actions targeting transgender people, including moves to restrict or eliminate federal support for gender-affirming care for minors, efforts to bar transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports, policies redefining gender in federal programs as strictly male or female, and broader rollbacks of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that had included protections for LGBTQ+ people. Officials framed those steps as protecting children and women’s rights, characterizations that are widely disputed by major medical associations and civil rights groups. In an interview on Tuesday with The Advocate , Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear , a Democrat, sharply criticized the broader political climate affecting transgender Americans. “The Supreme Court is absolutely wrong. Torture is never free speech. It’s just torture,” Beshear said, referring to a same-day ruling striking down a ban on so-called “conversion therapy” for minors. He also addressed transgender young people. “I see you. I care about you. I know this hurts,” he said. “There are people out there that support you and want to lift you up.” Without naming Trump, Beshear drew a contrast between his approach and that of national leaders he suggested are fueling hostility. “If a legislature is going to show people hate, a governor’s there to show them love,” he said, adding that public officials should “stand up to bullies” rather than “kick them while they’re down.” Beshear, who has repeatedly vetoed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Kentucky, though those vetoes have been overridden, said speaking out still matters. “Sometimes people say, ‘You’re the reason I’m still in Kentucky,’” he said. “I’m just trying to do the right thing.” He also urged Democrats to remain clear in defending transgender people, grounding their arguments in shared values. “We should always stand up for our convictions and push back against discrimination,” he said, warning of the real-world consequences of hostile policy and rhetoric. “We should always be in the suicide prevention business. Never in the suicide-causing business.”
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