The Trump campaign blasted President Joe Biden for proclaiming March 31, which this year falls on Easter Sunday, as Transgender Day of Visibility, even though the day has been recognized on March 31 every year for more than a decade.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt issued a statement calling it “appalling and insulting” that Biden “formally proclaimed Easter Sunday as ‘Trans Day of Visibility.’”
The White House issued a declaration Friday proclaiming March 31 as “Transgender Day of Visibility,” calling on 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 based on gender identity.”
The proclamation drew widespread criticism from conservatives on social media—House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called it “outrageous and abhorrent” that Biden recognized “Transgender Day” on Easter Sunday, while firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., tweeted, “There is no length Biden and the Democrats won’t go to mock your faith.”
Transgender Day of Visibility is celebrated globally on March 31—which happens to fall on Easter Sunday this year—and Biden has made the same proclamation in each year of his presidency; the date of Easter changes year-by-year.
Meanwhile, the White House partnered with America’s Egg Farmers to invite children from National Guard families to submit Easter egg artwork based on the theme “Celebrating our Military Families”—but conservatives similarly framed a flier for the event as an attack on Christianity, since it contained a section prohibiting “any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes or partisan political statements.” Johnson framed the guidelines as “Banning sacred truth and tradition.” Emily Metz, CEO of the American Egg Board, told Fox News the restrictions are in place because America’s Egg Farmers is bound by “strict guidelines under the USDA” and cannot be “seen to be promoting one political viewpoint or ideology over the other,” instead focusing exclusively on “egg promotion and marketing activities.”
Biden has maintained that he’s a devout Catholic who has been vocal about his beliefs. Last year, he issued a statement commemorating Easter as well, writing: “we remember Jesus’ sacrifice and recommit ourselves to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves, embracing His call to treat one another with compassion.”
The International Transgender Day of Visibility was established in 2010 in response to a wave of media stories about transgender people that focused on violence, according to the LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD. Rachel Crandall, the founder of the Day of Visibility, “hoped to create a day where people could celebrate the lives of transgender people, while still acknowledging that due to discrimination, not every trans person can or wants to be visible.”
The White House says it’s expecting upwards of 40,000 people to attend its annual Easter Monday Easter Egg Roll, with a theme of “EGG-ucation.”
