Biden celebrates 'Trans Day of Visibility' on Easter

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the origins of the art contest for National Guard families and its ban on religious imagery. The contest has been around since 2021. The ban on religious imagery comes from the American Egg Board and has has been in effect over multiple administrations.

President Joe Biden issued a proclamation to celebrate one of his seemingly favorite holidays of the activist calendar, Transgender Day of Visibility. This year, that very special day on the White House calendar falls on Easter, one of the holiest days for Christians worldwide.

Biden did not issue an Easter proclamation, and in fact when his White House launched an egg design contest for children of National Guard families, those children were forbidden from recognizing Christ, Christianity, or religious themes in their design. The contest has been around since 2021, though the prohibition on religious imagery comes from the American Egg Board and has has been in effect over multiple administrations.

On this day, Biden said, "we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect Union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives."

He said that he is "proud" that his administration has "appointed transgender leaders to my Administration and to have ended the ban on transgender Americans serving openly in our military.  I am proud to have signed historic Executive Orders that strengthen civil rights protections in housing, employment, health care, education, the justice system, and more.  I am proud to have signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, ensuring that every American can marry the person they love."

He has also told American parents to "affirm your kids," meaning to believe and encourage them when they say they were born in the wrong body and want to change sex.

In his proclamation, he said that "extremists" are targeting trans people, especially "transgender kids and their families."

He said "extremists are proposing hundreds of hateful laws that target and terrify transgender kids and their families — silencing teachers; banning books; and even threatening parents, doctors, and nurses with prison for helping parents get care for their children."

What he doesn't say is that these laws prevent teachers from bringing porn and explicit books into classrooms unless age-appropriate, prevent doctors from giving children experimental, growth-stunting and sterilizing drugs in service to the lie that they can change sex, and stop doctors from removing healthy body parts of teens, such as double mastectomies for healthy breasts.

Biden leans into trans propaganda in his proclamation, saying that there is "an epidemic of violence against transgender women and girls, especially women and girls of color." There is no epidemic.

In 2023, "transgender or gender-expansive people" were murdered, and many of these were domestic or involving additional criminal activity such as sex-work. Discrimination did not play a large role in these deaths.

The day, just one of many days celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, plus (two-spirit, non-binary, pansexual, demisexual, aromantic, genderfluid, agender) people and lifestyles, has been of special import to Biden since he took office in 2021.

Biden signed off on the proclamation on Friday, saying "I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity." He's issued the proclamation year after year.