The “culture wars” have reached Easter.
President Joe Biden on Friday issued a proclamation recognizing March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility, just as he has commemorated the day every year since he has been in office.
As Easter Sunday falls on March 31 this year, conservatives responded furiously, accusing the president, who is Catholic, of attempting to stifle Christian values by highlighting the event during an important religious holiday.
The controversy, which has galvanized conservatives and which transgender advocates say is manufactured, is the latest in a series of social conflicts that has enveloped the political process and current electoral cycle.
House leadership voiced their outrage, as did the Trump campaign, demanding an apology from the White House. The White House pushed back, saying that “as a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American.”
The Transgender Day of Visibility, observed on March 31 each year, was started by advocates 15 years ago as a way to celebrate transgender people and raise awareness of the discrimination they face.
Easter falls on a different date each year that is determined by a calculation related to lunar phases — the overlap between the two this year is coincidental. It is common for there to be multiple proclamations for the same date: Easter Sunday will also be Cesar Chavez day.
In his Friday statement marking the globally celebrated day, Biden affirmed the rights and freedoms of all transgender Americans. Highlighting the rise of extremism against transgender youth in particular, Biden referenced the proliferation of laws that “target and terrify transgender kids and their families,” including bills that ban books with LGBTQ+ content and threaten health workers providing gender-affirming care.
In a statement to POLITICO on Saturday, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates added that, “it’s unsurprising politicians are seeking to divide and weaken our country with cruel, hateful, and dishonest rhetoric. President Biden will never abuse his faith for political purposes or for profit.”
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign released a statement calling on Biden to “issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican who often talks of his Christian faith, took to X to pillory the president’s statement.
“The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Johnson wrote.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said, “There is no length Biden and the Democrats won’t go to to mock your faith, and to thumb his nose at God.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) posted to X: “We can all celebrate Easter and the teachings of Jesus by modeling kindness, compassion, and loving thy neighbor - and yes, that includes trans folks and families.”
The Human Rights Campaign, a prominent LGBTQ+ civil rights group, pushed back in a post to X, writing that “Not only would Trump’s policies drag us back in time – apparently he also doesn’t know how the calendar works.”
Democratic strategist Matt McDermott described the GOP attacks as in “bad faith” and “part of an ongoing effort to bully, harass, demean, and demagogue trans Americans for simply trying to live their lives.”
Some Republicans, such as House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik, further alleged the Biden administration supported a ban of religious symbols at White House Easter celebrations this year.
Although Fox News reported that a flyer calling for youth art submissions for the celebration asked that submissions not include “religious symbols” or “overtly religious themes,” an official involved with the Easter egg roll told POLITICO that the egg roll is part of a USDA initiative to promote eggs and that the language used was standardized and would have been the same under previous administrations.
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