Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) “signed a bill to prohibit transgender Ohioans from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity,” the Columbus Dispatch reports.
“The new law will require K-12 and college students at public and private schools to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex assigned at birth. It also bans multi-occupancy gender neutral restrooms and prevents transgender students from sharing overnight accommodations with peers of the same gender.”
Jonathan Chait: “Before this month’s elections, when Democratic candidates were being attacked for letting transgender athletes compete in girls’ sports, trans-rights activists and their allies had a confident answer: They had nothing to fear, because anti-trans themes were a consistent loser for Republicans. That position became impossible to maintain after the elections, when detailed research showed that the issue had done tremendous damage to Kamala Harris and other Democrats. In fact, the third-most-common reason swing voters and late deciders in one survey gave for opposing Harris was that she ‘is focused more on cultural issues like transgender issues rather than helping the middle class,’ an impression these voters no doubt got from endless ads showing her endorsing free gender-transition surgery for prisoners and detained migrants.”
“Now some of the very people who pushed Democrats into adopting these politically toxic positions have shifted to a new line: Abandoning any element of the trans-rights agenda would be morally unthinkable…”
“Refusing to accommodate the electorate is a legitimate choice when politicians believe they are defending a principle so foundational that defeat is preferable to compromise. But in this case, the no-compromise stance is premised on a fundamental misunderstanding of the options on the table. Democrats do not, in fact, face a choice between championing trans rights and abandoning them. They can and should continue to defend trans people against major moral, legal, and cultural threats. All they need to do to reduce their political exposure is repudiate the movement’s marginal and intellectually shaky demands.”
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) actually used to boast about being “pro trans,” but is now in the midst of a tirade—including repeatedly calling transgender people “mentally ill,” the Daily Beast reports.
“In the weeks before Election Day, aides to Kamala Harris could see in campaign polling that Donald Trump’s attacks on Ms. Harris’s support for transgender rights were driving away swing voters,” the New York Times reports.
“Struggling to put together a rebuttal, they produced a series of ads arguing that Mr. Trump was trying to distract from more important issues. Some of the spots noted that the policy Mr. Trump was seizing on, taxpayer-funded gender-transition surgery for inmates, was in place when he was president.”
“But none of the messages significantly swayed voters when the ads were tested with focus groups… After a sharp, internal debate, the campaign shelved the ads.”
CNN: Republican’s effort to block first transgender House member from using women’s bathrooms brings campaign issue to the Capitol.
“President Biden took a stab at former President Barack Obama on the issue of gay marriage during a gaggle with reporters on Tuesday, as the rift between the two continues to widen,” the Daily Beast reports.
Said Biden: “Well, I’m really proud of my position. I was the first guy to come out for gay marriage. Remember that little problem with the Obama administration?”
“Following the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, unity was expected to be the hallmark of the Republican National Convention for the presidential candidate,” ABC News reports.
“But the message of unity rings hollow for some in the LGBTQ community, who say they have repeatedly been the target of Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee, and others on the national stage.”
Washington Post: GOP called for unity as it continued to feature far-right figures, ideas.
President Biden is expected to pardon US veterans who were convicted by the military over a 60-year period under a military law that banned gay sex, CNN reports.
The pardon proclamation is expected to be announced on Wednesday and one official said it is set to affect roughly 2,000 people.
Gallup: “More than two in three Americans continue to believe that marriage between same-sex couples should be legal (69%), and nearly as many say gay or lesbian relations are morally acceptable (64%).”
“Both readings have been consistently above the 50% mark since the early 2010s and above 60% since 2017.”
The Colorado Republican party is urging members to burn the Pride flag this month.
“The Colorado Republican Party marked the start of Pride Month with a mass email attacking ‘godless groomers’ and a social media post calling for the burning of all Pride flags,” KUSA reports.
“The state GOP’s move to the far right after a series of electoral blowout losses continued with some of its harshest anti-gay rhetoric in recent years.”
“The Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ rights group in the United States, is launching a $15 million commitment to help Democratic President Joe Biden defeat Republican Donald Trump in the 2024 election,” NBC News reports.
“The spending blitz, shared first with NBC News, will cover the six key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. The group says it will include paid ads, staff hires, field campaigns and events in those states, which are poised to decide who wins the presidency and Congress.”
Gallup: “LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or some other sexual orientation besides heterosexual.”
“The current figure is up from 5.6% four years ago and 3.5% in 2012, Gallup’s first year of measuring sexual orientation and transgender identity.”
Wall Street Journal: “Two decades later, what was once the white-hot center of political debate has receded to the background. Polls show nearly three-quarters of Americans, including 49% of Republicans and a majority of regular churchgoers, support it. The Supreme Court made same-sex marriage a nationwide right in 2015, and Congress gave federal recognition to the practice on a broad bipartisan vote in 2022…”
“The widespread public approval suggests most people don’t believe the horrors once forecast have resulted from same-sex marriage’s legalization, and now there is evidence to prove it. A comprehensive new research report by the Rand organization finds that the consequences of two decades of legal same-sex marriage have been broadly positive for gay and straight Americans alike.”
President Biden is facing criticism from Donald Trump’s campaign and religious conservatives for proclaiming March 31 — which corresponds with Easter Sunday this year — as “Transgender Day of Visibility,” the AP reports.
“In 2024, the March 31 designation overlaps with Easter, one of Christianity’s holiest celebrations. Trump’s campaign accused Biden, a Roman Catholic, of being insensitive to religion, and fellow Republicans piled on.”
The Sacramento City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to declare the California capital a “sanctuary city for transgender people,” NBC News reports.
“The resolution, which takes effect immediately, ensures that no city resources will be used to criminalize trans people seeking transition-related care or to cooperate with jurisdictions seeking to enforce laws that criminalize the care elsewhere.”
“The White House on Sunday slammed Congressional Republicans for including a provision in the government funding bill that essentially stops LGBTQ+ Pride flags from being flown over U.S. embassies and vowed to repeal it,” ABC News reports.
Philip Elliot: “If Roe could fall after 49 years in a 6-3 ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson case, there’s no reason to think Obergefell is any safer after less than a decade in action.”
“It’s the legal earthquake that people like the lawyers at the Human Rights Campaign’s headquarters in Dupont Circle argue could come as soon as next year.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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