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Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson after Johnson called President Joe Biden's Transgender Day Of Visibility proclamation "outrageous and abhorrent" because it fell on the same day as Easter.
In his presidential proclamation for this year, Biden celebrated the Transgender Day of Visibility as an occasion to recognize the remarkable "courage and contributions" of transgender individuals in the United States.
Describing transgender Americans as integral members of the nation, the proclamation emphasized their entitlement to "the same rights and freedoms" as every other citizen, including the "fundamental freedom" to express their true selves.
This angered Johnson, who was quick to suggest that the proclamation was blasphemous in a post on X, formerly Twitter:
"The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
"Banning sacred truth and tradition—while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as “Transgender Day”—is outrageous and abhorrent. The American people are taking note."
You can see Johnson's post below.
What Johnson failed to mention is that the Transgender Day of Visibility, which originated in 2009, occurs each year on March 31. In contrast, the date of Easter varies from year to year, as it is determined by a lunar calendar.
Johnson's remarks quickly attracted Warnock's attention—and Warnock issued a swift denunciation during a CNN interview with Dana Bash:
“Apparently, the speaker finds trans people abhorrent, and I think he ought to think about that."
"This is just one more instance of folks who do not know how to lead us trying to divide us. And this is the opposite of the Christian faith."
"Jesus centered the marginalized. He centered the poor. And in a moment like this, we need voices, particularly voices of faith, who would use our faith not as a weapon to beat other people down but as a bridge to bring all of us together.”
"That is what Martin Luther King Jr. did and I'm honored to preach from that pulpit every single day."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Many joined Warnock in criticizing the Speaker.
Johnson's previous affiliations and statements have raised concerns about his positions. Prior to his congressional tenure, he held a senior role in the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Back in 2004, while he served as legal counsel for the ADF, Johnson actively campaigned for the Louisiana Marriage Amendment, in which he characterized same-sex couples as "inherently unnatural" and drew inappropriate comparisons to pedophilia.
Interestingly, Johnson now professes to have no recollection of making those statements. Additionally, he occupied a leadership position within the Southern Baptist Convention, a group known for its conservative stance on LGBTQ+ issues.
He has contended that "a parent has no right to sexually transition a young child," underscoring the legal system's role in safeguarding children from harm and claiming that these parents believe that they have "a constitutional right to injure their children.”
In 2022, Johnson introduced a bill that sought to prohibit federal funding for sex education programs addressing LGBTQ+ topics for children under 10, akin to Florida's contentious "Don't Say Gay" law. Johnson defended this legislation as a matter of "common sense."