President Joe Biden issued a presidential proclamation marking March 31 — which was Sunday — as Transgender Day of Visibility, an occasion that occurs at a fixed point on the calendar every year. This year, Sunday happened to also be Easter. Cue the pantomimed outrage from the Right.
“The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” complained Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) in a social media post, though the president also issued remarks this weekend that specifically discussed the religious elements of the Easter holiday. “Banning sacred truth and tradition—while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as “Transgender Day”—is outrageous and abhorrent. The American people are taking note.”
Can he read? “Transgender Day” is not what Biden deemed the day. It’s “Transgender Day of Visibility,” which is a specific concept rather than some vague gesture concocted by the president’s team in an attack on Easter and the associated Christian traditions, as Johnson’s comments could suggest.
“As a Christian who celebrates Easter with Family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American,” said Biden administration spokesman Andrew Bates, adding: “Sadly, 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.”
Johnson’s claim of the Biden administration “banning sacred truth” is an extrapolation from reports of restrictions on religious designs in the White House’s Easter egg art contest. The restrictions are decades-old. It’s just the Republicans deciding to take something personally that’s not about them while pretending the guy facing four felony criminal cases is the pick for religious types and attempting to commandeer expressions of religion in the first place. Trump — the guy who used his Easter messages over the weekend to describe the United States as a “failing nation.”
