Argentinian Alba Rueda was introduced at the ceremony as a "transgender woman who was kicked out of classrooms, barred for sitting for exams, refused job opportunities, subjected to violence, and rejected by her family. But in the face of these challenges, she worked to end violence and discrimination against the LGBTQ plus community in Argentina."
Alba Rueda currently serves as Argentina’s current Special Envoy for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship.
Commentators across Twitter balked at the idea of a person who had been born a man being bestowed with a women’s award.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, R-Ark., said, "It’s International Women’s Day – a good time to remember that Democrats can’t even tell you what a woman is."
"Nice of FLOTUS to encourage the diminishment of women on ‘international women's day.’ Erasing women is abusive," host of The Dana Show, Dana Loesch, tweeted.
"International Women's Day: Not just for women anymore," conservative Twitter personality Andrea Katherine wrote in reply.
"Apparently men are a lot better at being women than women are. Step up your game, ladies," Townhall columnist and radio personality Derek Hunter joked.
First Lady Jill Biden helped honor a trans woman at the International Women of Courage Awards.
WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH QUIZ! TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE COMMEMORATIVE MONTH
"We are not a serious country," Common Sense Society's Christopher Bedford responded.
Claremont Institute president Ryan P. Williams tweeted, "The jokes write themselves…"
"Why are the Democrats working overtime to push the trans agenda?" news commentator and former congressional nominee Karoline Leavitt asked.
RedState author and author Buzz Patterson wrote, "Nothing screams ‘International Women of Courage Award’ like a dude."
"This is disgraceful and unacceptable!" Republican National Hispanic Assembly national editorial board member and podcaster Jennifer Barreto-Leyva tweeted.
Demonstrators listen to the speaking program during an "Our Bodies, Our Sports" rally opposing biological males from competing with females in sports at Freedom Plaza on June 23, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Rueda currently serves as Argentina’s Special Envoy for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship. The State Department said Rueda had "actively campaigned to change the name of the National Women’s Conference to the ‘Plurinational Conference of Women and Lesbian, Cross-Dresser, Transgender, Bisexual, Intersex and Non-Binary Persons' to include diverse, dissident, and racialized identities.’"