President Joe Biden issued a proclamation honoring “Transgender Visibility Day,” prompting anger from some who take issue with the president recognizing the day, which happens to fall on Easter Sunday this year.
Former President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, called the proclamation “appalling” in a statement following Biden’s announcement, according to reporting by the New York Post.
“We call on Joe Biden’s failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Leavitt said, calling Biden’s decision to issue the proclamation part of the “administration’s years-long assault on the Christian faith.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) also took a swipe at the president on the social media platform X.
“The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Johnson wrote. “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.”
“Transgender Visibility Day” was initially established 15 years ago by a transgender activist from Michigan, KERA News reported.
Biden’s move to recognize the day did garner praise from some quarters.
Hilary Mitchell, writing for The Pink News, called Biden’s proclamation “powerful” and dismissed the fact that the White House’s proclamation would coincide with Easter Sunday.
“It’s important to note that absolutely no one has ‘decided’ to hold Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday: the latter is a moving feast day which can fall on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25,” Mitchell wrote.
Biden’s proclamation was purportedly meant to call attention to societal circumstances faced by transgender people.
“I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination against all transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people,” the statement reads.
While “Transgender Visibility Day” has been observed since 2009, Advocate Magazine noted that Biden’s proclamation in recognition of the day in 2021 was the first of its kind in terms of a sitting president honoring the day.
