Joe Biden says ban on trans treatment for children 'close to sinful'
Joe Biden has said imposing bans on trans treatment for children was 'close to sinful'
Reuters
Joe Biden has hit out at attempts to stop children from receiving transgender medical treatment.
The US president called the efforts as “close to sinful” and lambasted thenRepublican Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, for attempting to impose restrictions on transgender people.
A number of measures have been put into state legislation which aim to limit the rights of LGBTQ people.
More than 450 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in US states.
Ron DeSantis is set to bring in measures that bans under-18s from receiving transgender medical interventions.
Reuters
These restrictions include stopping transgender people from competing on sports teams or using toilets of the gender they identify as.
DeSantis is expected to bring in a measure that bans under-18s from receiving transgender medical interventions in Florida.
Biden called the move “cruel” and “terrible”.
He said: “What’s going on in Florida is, as my mother would say, close to sinful. It’s just terrible what they’re doing.”
Joe Biden said: "They’re human beings. They love. They have feelings. They have inclinations".
Reuters
“It’s not like a kid wakes up one morning and says, ‘You know, I decided I wanted to become a man or want to become a woman’ or ‘I want to change’,” he told The Daily Show.
“I mean, what are they thinking about here? They’re human beings. They love. They have feelings. They have inclinations.
“It just, to me, is, I don’t know… It’s cruel.”
He went on to suggest federal laws should be put forward that protect the rights of transgender people, adding that it was “immoral” to block access to the treatments for children.
Biden continued: “It’s cruel, and the way we do it is we make sure we pass legislation like we passed on same-sex marriage. You mess with that, you’re breaking the law and you’re going to be held accountable.”
The US President has welcomed several trans activists to the White House.
The Biden administration has signed an order which aims to protect transgender people and ban conversion therapy.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Reuters
Last week, the White House called attacks on the rights of LGBTQ people “dangerous”.
Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said: “In Florida, just Florida alone, Republicans introduced 20 bills, 20 bills on a single day to roll back the rights of LGBT community,"
She continued: “Just think about a kid who's sitting at home in this community, who's listening and hearing elected officials talking about how they want to take away their rights, or how they want to even threaten their parents with felony charges for seeking healthcare for their children”.