Conservatives across the country have proposed legislation and spewed rhetoric demonizing transgender people.
Far-right Governor Greg Abbott of Texas issued a directive to the state's child services department to investigate the parents of transgender youth for child abuse. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida signed the infamous "Don't Say Gay" bill into law, claiming to protect children from "gender ideology" in the classroom. Numerous Republican senators and representatives have called for a ban on transgender women competing in women's sports.
Now, Republican Andrew Giuliani—the son of Trump's ex-lawyer Rudy Giuliani and current New York gubernatorial candidate—has also come out in opposition to transgender rights, invoking the genitals of his four-month-old daughter to do so.
The Daily Beast reports that, at a rally by the far-right group Long Island Loud Majority, Giuliani said of his infant daughter:
"I have changed the diapers. I have looked under the hood. She’s a woman. I’m gonna be the last guy in a long time that looks under the hood right there. But guess what? She was born a woman and she’s gonna stay a woman, it’s that simple.”
After Giuliani spoke at length about his daughter's "hood," his spokesperson told the Daily Beast:
“[W]hile Andrew does not claim to be a biologist, he can tell the difference between a male and a female.”
It's commonplace for conservatives to oversimplify sex, gender, and anatomy at the expense of transgender people's validity, despite experts repeatedly emphasizing that genitalia does not define gender.
It's also common for conservatives to stake claims on the bodies of anyone with a uterus, as Giuliani did when he insisted he'd be his daughter's "only boyfriend till [she's] 25 years old," in the same bizarre rant.
But Giuliani's boasts about inspecting his daughter's genitals were a bizarre low even among current conservative rhetoric surrounding transgender individuals.
The comments raised major red flags for social media users.
This guy is just not right. https://t.co/dH2ah8Wy1m
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) March 29, 2022
I'm going to sexualize my baby, viewed it as property, claimed ownership and then announced it to the world like totally normal human adult human chicken would do. https://t.co/znPmgAET0z
— _.just._ ✨🔥 sparkles and chaos 🔥✨ (@evan_just_evan) March 30, 2022
Just think about how disgusting that is? https://t.co/0LN60HQQoc
— Hat. Mean jokes are not funny. 🌻 (@ActivistHat_) March 30, 2022
On the one hand climate change is an existential threat to humanity, and i think that's bad. Then on the other hand it's an existential threat to humanity, and I'm like "okay sure. We deserve it" https://t.co/ddmiOS5eJN
— Incredulous Reactionary (@thealgreen) March 30, 2022
“i’m a normal man, just like you. look how normal i am, telling you about what my baby’s genitalia looks like and then comparing myself to her future sexual partners, so you understand i’m not one of those freaks” https://t.co/umAbD2sxeG
— Molly Priddy (@mollypriddy) March 29, 2022
This is really really really creepy. She's not a woman. She's a BABY. https://t.co/40NdS7L1VD
— Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis (@KendraWrites) March 29, 2022
As Giuliani broadcasts his daughter's genitalia and as Republicans pass bills permitting genital inspections of any student athletes who might be transgender, the GOP continues to accuse LGBTQ people of sexualizing or "grooming" children.
The hypocrisy is glaring.
cishets say we’re the ones sexualizing children https://t.co/b3eWPNPRYT
— Mx. D. E. Anderson (@diannaeanderson) March 29, 2022
republicans have a perverse obsession with children's genitals https://t.co/m3ClsD6lxg
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) March 29, 2022
LiBeRaLs WaNt To SeXuALiZe cHiLdReN https://t.co/5muuyADG86
— Heron Greenesmith, Esq. (@herong) March 29, 2022
Giuliani has only doubled down on Twitter.
