President Joe Biden is facing criticism from Donald Trump’s campaign and religious conservatives for proclaiming March 31 – which is Easter Sunday this year – as “Transgender Day of Visibility.”
The Democratic president issued the proclamation Friday, calling on “all Americans to join us in elevating the lives and voices of transgender people across our country and to work to eliminate gender-based violence and discrimination.” “gender identity”.
But in 2024, the date of March 31 overlaps with Easter, one of the holiest celebrations in Christianity. Trump’s campaign accused Biden, a Catholic, of being insensitive to religion, and his fellow Republicans continued.
“We call on Joe Biden’s failed campaign and the White House to apologize to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe that tomorrow is only one celebration: the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” said Karoline Leavitt, press secretary for the Trump campaign. She criticized what she called “the Biden administration’s years-long attack on the Christian faith.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on social media that “the Biden White House has betrayed the central principle of Easter” and called the decision “outrageous and abhorrent.”
Biden devoutly attends Mass and considers his Catholic upbringing an essential part of his morality and identity. In 2021, he met with Pope Francis at the Vatican and later told reporters that the pontiff called himself a “good Catholic” who should continue to receive communion.
But Biden’s policy positions on same-sex marriage and his support for women’s rights to abortion put him at odds with many conservative Christians.
NBC Chicago
