Barack Obama Defies MAGA To Rally Americans Behind Vulnerable Kids

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Former President Barack Obama was among those speaking out in recent days on the occasion established as the Transgender Day of Visibility, for which President Joe Biden signed a proclamation.

“On this Transgender Day of Visibility, Michelle and I want every trans person in America—and around the world—to know that we see you and we stand with you,” the former president posted online. “Every LGBTQIA+ person deserves to feel safe and protected. Our @ObamaFoundation leaders are working to protect trans rights and those in the LGBTQIA+ community around the world.”

This rhetoric is basically the opposite of what’s come from GOP corners, including all sorts of prominent names, like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is among the leaders from his party who’ve signed restrictions on transgender women and girls participating in school athletics. Targets from Republicans have included gender-affirming care for both minors and some adults through both outright bans and limits on funding the care, while Democrats have helped secure protections like the bill codifying allowances for same-sex marriage after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving observers concerned about what could be next in court.

“The Department of Education is, for example, helping ensure that transgender students have equal opportunities to learn and thrive at school, and the Department of Justice is pushing back against extreme laws that seek to ban evidence-based gender-affirming health care,” Biden’s proclamation from last week said, later adding: “America is founded on the idea that all people are created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout their lives. We have never fully lived up to that, but we have never walked away from it either. Today, as we celebrate transgender people, we also celebrate every American’s fundamental right to be themselves, bringing us closer to realizing America’s full promise.”