Tipsheet

Let's Talk About Joe Biden's Answer on LGBT Issues

Guy Benson
Guy Benson  |  June 12, 2023 1:05 PM

Late last week during a rare press conference, a reporter asked President Biden about LGBT-related policies and cultural controversies.  Let's take a few moments to break down the "question," as well as Biden's fairly lengthy response to it.  First, the journalist -- Laura Barrón-López of taxpayer-funded PBS --  was on the pre-approved list compiled by Biden's staff, and she asked about a topic for which Biden was equipped with copious notes, from which he read extensively during his answer.  Here's the full exchange:


(1) Let's begin with that remarkably slanted question, which truly could have been scripted by a left-wing activist organization (after which she asked the British Prime Minister about 'disinformation campaigns,' without a shred of irony):

"All over the country, Mr. President, Republican-led states are passing laws — passing anti-LGBTQ, anti-transgender laws that restrict rights and medical care.  Intimidation is on the rise.  This week, anti-LGBTQ protestors turned violent in California. And also recently, I spoke to the parents of a transgender girl in Texas who told me that they’re afraid and that they are considering leaving not just their state, but the country. Sir, why do you think this is happening?  And what do you say to parents, like the ones that I spoke to, to those families who are contemplating leaving the country because they don’t feel safe anymore?"

What an embarrassing offering.  This is a president who doesn't take many questions, and this woman decided to effectively invite Biden to spout off about Republicans' supposed bigotry, which he does routinely on his own volition.  This is advocacy, not journalism.  It wasn't even really an attempt at real journalism.  The framing that 'rights' and 'medical care' are being restricted is loaded and biased, given the nature of some of these disputes.  The violence in California, which was unacceptable, was between "anti-LGBTQ" protesters and Antifa agitators who were spoiling, as usual, for a fight.  She didn't mention that part.  

And the emotionalist anecdote about an alleged conversation she had with parents of a trans kid who are supposedly considering fleeing the country is ridiculous.  Even if this discussion happened, and if these people were terrified of living in Texas, there are many places around the country where amputating minors' genitals is actively encouraged by the ruling party.  Indeed, they could move to Washington State, where the government is now permitted to take in minors from all over the country who believe they're trans, and provide them with 'medical care' without their parents' knowledge, even of their whereabouts.  In California, lawmakers are considering this radical legislation:

There was no question about any of this, which is wildly out of step with the American mainstream, because the focus had to be on the Very Bad Things happening exclusively in "Republican-led states."

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(2) Guess who else is currently "passing laws — passing anti-LGBTQ, anti-transgender laws that restrict rights and medical care," under her definitions of those words?  Multiple governments in Western Europe including progressive Scandinavia, where Norway has joined Sweden and Finland in pumping the breaks on so-called "gender-affirming care" for minors: "The Norwegian Healthcare Investigation Board announced it would be revising its current guidelines regarding so-called "gender -affirming care" for minors because it no longer considers them to be evidence-based. The board also acknowledged that the growing number of teenage girls identifying as male post-puberty remains under-studied," the Washington Examiner reported in March.  "Under the proposed updated guidelines, the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transition-related surgery would be restricted to research contexts and no longer provided in clinical settings."  And then there's this:


England's NHS is moving in this same direction, implementing policies similar to those in the "Republican-led states" that so offend the PBS reporter.  Astoundingly, the leader of the UK was standing right there, and there was no question posed to him, nor was there a question about whether Biden would denounce our closest ally's (whose political Overton window is generally much more socially 'progressive' than ours) moves on this front.  Journalism.

(3) There's no doubt that there are some "hysterical and prejudiced" people engaged in this wider cultural debate, including some on the Right who are motivated by ugliness and bigotry toward the entire LGBT community.  Some within this group are seeking to exploit righteous and understandable backlash to clear excesses, generally involving children, to attack and demonize non-straight people more broadly.  Conservatives would be wise to differentiate between genuine causes for concern and generalized actual anti-LGBT ranting.  I'd also argue that there are "hysterical and prejudiced" zealots on the identity-fixated Left, like the ones pushing laws like the Washington and California policies mentioned above.  When Biden warns about "ugly" sentiments driven by "fear," is he assailing...the vast majority of the American public?

A new Washington Post-KFF poll dropped with insights into Americans’ views on transgenderism in the nation, our schools and women’s sports. The poll found that 57% of American adults believe gender is based on the sex “assigned” at birth, while 43% say a person could change their gender later in life. Fifty-three percent of 18- to 34-year-olds believe that gender is based on birth sex, while 47% believe one can change their gender later in life. Sixty-three percent of adults 55 to 64 years of age believe that gender is based on the sex “assigned” at birth...The poll also found that 62% of American adults supported so-called “gender-affirming counseling or therapy” for kids ages 10 to 14, but 68% were against giving the age group puberty blockers. For transgender teens age 15 to 17, 66% of American adults supported “gender-affirming counseling or therapy” but the majority, 58%, were still opposed to prescribing puberty blocker medications. Additionally, 77% of American adults believe it is inappropriate for teachers to discuss their transgender identities with students in kindergarten to third grade.

Also, have the youngest Americans suddenly been gripped by a wave of blind bigotry, or is Biden in a very thick bubble, in which his various pronouncements would be unrecognizable to, say, Senator Joe Biden?


(4) Biden intones, "it’s wrong for — that a person can be married in the morning in the United States and fired in the afternoon by their employer because they are — they’re gay."  Here's how Oyez summarizes the 2020 Supreme Court Bostock decision, authored by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch: "An employer who fires an individual employee merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the opinion for the 6-3 majority of the Court."  Is Biden aware of this ruling being violated?  Or is he using outdated information to scare people, making the threat of rank, legal discrimination seem much more acute than it actually is?

(5) Biden boasts of his administration hiring "a new coordinator to protect LGBT students from book bans."  Which "book bans" do children need "protection" from?  These?  Or what about these?  Is the President of the United States in favor of pornographic material being accessible to grade school students, in school?  Is that the new requirement to avoid being called a bigot by said President of the United States?  Maybe some enterprising journalist could propose showing some of the prohibited materials to Biden with his grandchild sitting on his lap, and see how that goes.  Will he proudly protect his grandkids' 'right' to see such material, despite the book banners' best efforts?  Also, does he have inkling of how creepy and off-putting statements like this are to so many parents across the country?

"These are our kids.  These are our neighbors.  It’s cruel and it’s callous.  Not somebody else’s kids; they’re all our kids."

Actually, they are somebody else's kids.  They are not "all our" kids. Finally, how much of any of this qualifies "ugly," in Biden's view?  Or "prejudice" at work?  Why is he never asked these sorts of questions, as he spouts judgmental comments about views shared by most Americans?  Likely because most journalists so committed to activism on this front that Biden's minority-held positions go unchallenged, while majority-held ones are cast as dark and "controversial."