Biden attacks ‘sinful’ ban on trans surgery for minors
Florida governor’s plan to outlaw medical treatments for under-18s is ‘terrible’ and ‘cruel’, says president
JOE BIDEN has described efforts to block children from transgender medical treatments as “close to sinful”.
The US president said federal laws should be passed to protect transgender rights as he attacked Ron Desantis’s restrictions in Florida.
The Florida governor is set to enact a measure banning transgender medical interventions in the state for under-18s, which Mr Biden called “cruel”, in an interview broadcast last night.
“What’s going on in Florida is, as my mother would say, close to sinful. It’s just terrible what they’re doing,” Mr Biden told The Daily Show.
“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’.
“I mean, what are they thinking about here? They’re human beings. They love, they have feelings, they have inclinations,” the president said. “It just, to me, is, I dunno, it’s cruel.”
He told host Kal Penn, who worked in the Barack Obama government, that the way to combat such laws is by passing legislation in Congress – as Mr Biden did last year when his administration codified same-sex marriage rights.
“It’s cruel, and the way we do it is we make sure we pass legislation like we passed on same-sex marriage,” Mr Biden said. “You mess with that, you’re breaking the law and you’re going to be held accountable.”
Mr Biden has repeatedly made clear his opinions on the issue.
Hosting a number of transgender activists at the White House late last year, Mr Biden said it is “immoral” for Republican states to block young people’s access to transgender treatments.
The Biden administration has signed an executive order to enhance protections for transgender minors and take steps to ban conversion therapy.
It came as Mr Biden was facing a showdown with environmentalists and leading Democrats after approving one of the largest-ever drilling projects on US land.
His administration yesterday gave the green light to the Willow Project scheme on Alaska’s north slope, effectively reversing a policy pledge he made during the election.
Having entered office vowing “no more drilling on federal lands. Period”, Mr Biden’s hand has been forced by soaring energy prices, which have fuelled inflation.
The Willow scheme, which has been led by oil behemoth Conocophillips, could produce more than 600million barrels of crude oil over the next 30 years. It is understood that Mr Biden will try to soften criticism by imposing strict restrictions on offshore drilling and strengthening protection on more than 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-alaska.
This is unlikely to satisfy critics who are pressing the administration to honour its pledges at a raft of global climate summits.
Environmental groups estimate that the Willow Project will add more than 250 million metric tons of carbon emissions to the atmosphere over the next 30 years, equivalent to the annual emissions of 66 coal plants. Annually it would equate to putting nearly two million extra cars on US roads.
Last week, nearly two dozen Democrat members of Congress – and independent Bernie Sanders – wrote to Mr Biden urging him to kill off what they described as an “ill-conceived and misguided” oil and gas drilling project.
They warned it would cause at least $19.8billion (£16.5billion) in climaterelated damages.
“Climate damage is unlikely to stop with the first phase of the Willow Project; your administration needs to draw the line now,” they said.
“Approving a major new oil and gas development project would be inconsistent with your administration’s historic achievements on climate and environmental justice.”
Opponents include Al Gore, a former vice-president, who said: “The proposed expansion of oil and gas drilling in Alaska is recklessly irresponsible.”