‘We Must Ban It Immediately’: Trump Descends Into Transphobic Tirade Over Support for Trans Kids in Schools During State of the Union
During his speech, Trump took time to call for harmful forced outing laws and called Democrats 'crazy' amid their opposition to federal policies targeting trans youth.
Today, Trump delivered his annual State of the Union address. While Trump was expected to talk about the economy, the recent Supreme Court ruling striking down his tariffs, immigration & ICE, the GOP push for nationwide voter ID laws, and rising tensions with Iran, one of the biggest uncertainties surrounded the extent to which Trump would lean into transphobia.
And Trump certainly has a lot of anti-trans ‘accomplishments’ to dazzle his base with. Over the past year, the Trump administration has launched unprecedented attacks on gender-affirming care, trans people’s passports, trans people in prisons, restricting trans bathroom use, kicking trans service members out of the military, and more. His administration advanced the use of terms like ‘sex rejection’ and ‘sex trait modification’ when referring to gender-affirming care and even went as far as declaring ‘gender ideology’ as being the “root of evil.”
But he didn’t tout any of this. Instead, about halfway into his speech, Trump went on a tirade against schools ‘socially transitioning’ trans kids:
“In the gallery tonight are Sage Blair and her mother, Michelle. In 2021, Sage was 14 when school officials in Virginia sought to socially transition her to a new gender—treating her as a boy and hiding it from her parents. Hard to believe, isn’t it?
“Before long, a confused Sage ran away from home. After she was found in a horrific situation in Maryland, a left-wing judge refused to return Sage to her parents because they did not immediately state that their daughter was their son. Sage was thrown into an all-boys state home and suffered terribly for a long time.”
Here, Trump is referring to Sage Blair, a Virginia teen who has become a conservative darling in the right-wing fight against schools “secretly socially transitioning” trans kids without informing parents. Earlier today, it was announced that Trump had invited her to attend his speech, mirroring his invitation of Payton McNabb—one of the most prominent anti-trans sports activists—to last year’s speech. After pausing for applause, he continued:
“And who can believe that we’re even speaking about things like this? 15 years ago, if somebody was up here and said that, they’d say, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ But now we have to say it because it’s going on all over—in numerous states—without even telling the parents. But surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will. Who would believe that we’re even talking about this?
“We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately.”
After Democrats didn’t clap for these remarks, Trump pointed at them and said,
“These people are crazy. Boy, oh boy, we’re lucky we have a country with people like this. Democrats are destroying our country, but we’ve stopped it just in the nick of time.”
When compared to his speech to Congress last year, the difference is stark. While Trump did talk about trans people, that was limited to a mention of trans sports participation and a bizarre rant about “transgender mice.” However, today, Trump demonstrated that he’s willing to play into the right’s push for more transphobic policies—a move his base is sure to support.
But most notably, it’s worth mentioning that Trump just attacked Democrats over trans kids during one of the most-watched political moments of the year. And not a single Democrat gave in. In fact, one actually shouted back.
That said, Trump’s speech cements the shift in the focus of Republicans’ anti-trans rhetoric, which for years has largely relied on sports and gender-affirming care as a vehicle to usher in further restrictions on trans Americans. Already two states—Kansas and Texas—have passed laws entirely prohibiting public school employees from assisting trans kids with “social transition” in any way, including pronouns and name changes. Because of its restrictions on supportive teachers’ free speech, a Trump-appointed judge recently issued a preliminary ruling against Texas’ law.
A number of other states have additionally passed ‘forced outing’ laws requiring students’ parents be notified when gender non-conforming students begin using a new name and/or pronouns. For trans kids with unsupportive parents, this can have devastating impacts on their mental health by exposing them to abuse at home. On top of that, it also makes trans kids more hesitant to seek mental health support within schools—knowing that asking for help will unwillingly out them to their family.
Now, attention will turn to Abigail Spanberger, the recently elected governor of Virginia, as she delivers the Democratic rebuttal to Trump’s State of the Union. Especially given that her state has been at the center of the forced outing debate, hopefully she will take time to forcefully reject Trump’s attacks against trans youth.
He is obsessed with us, leave us alone
“Schools are forcibly transitioning kids against their parents wills”
The very statement exudes the sense that children are nothing more than property.
They are people, people who are still learning about many parts of the world, but people with their own wills, wants, and desires.
A school cannot even force a kid to pay attention, how could they possibly force a child to socially transition?