President Joe Biden waded into the contentious debate over transgender policies, describing Florida's policies on the matter as "close to sinful."
Over recent weeks, Republican legislators in red states, including Florida, have introduced a flurry of bills restricting gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors. Biden didn't lay out specifics but deemed the measures "cruel."
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“What’s going on in Florida is, as my mother would say, close to sinful. It’s just terrible what they’re doing,” Biden lamented in an interview with Kal Penn on the Daily Show.
One proposal in Florida, House Bill 1421, would ban federal funds for "gender clinical interventions" and restrict procedures such as puberty blockers, hormone antagonistic therapies, and sex reassignment surgeries for minors, with some exceptions. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), rumored to be mulling a 2024 run, has championed anti-woke policies in his culture war crusades.
“It’s not like, you know, a kid wakes up one morning and says, ‘You know, I decided I want to become a man or I want to become a woman or I want to change.’ I mean, what are they thinking about? They’re human beings. They love. They have feelings," Biden added.
“It just, to me, is, I dunno, it’s cruel,” he continued.
Other red states have similarly latched on to the issue. Tennessee, for instance, also imposed restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors. During the interview, Biden recounted his change of heart on gay marriage and reaffirmed his support for LGBT rights.
“I can remember exactly when my epiphany was,” Biden recalled, hearkening back to his time as a senior in high school when he was dropped off by his father and saw "two well-dressed men in suits" kissing. “I’ll never forget, I turn and looked at my dad. He said, ‘Joey, it’s simple. They love each other.’”
Biden backed the Defense of Marriage Act in the 1990s to affirm that marriage was between a man and a woman. He later publicly came out in favor of gay marriage in 2012, beating then-President Barack Obama to the punch as public opinion shifted in favor of gay marriage.
“It’s just that simple. It doesn’t matter whether it’s same-sex or a heterosexual couple, you should be able to be married. What is the problem?” Biden added.
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The president also stressed that Congress recently passed a bill to safeguard gay marriage, warning, "You mess with that, you’re breaking the law, and you’re going to be held accountable."
Comedy Central teased that Biden will provide viewers with a "special tour of the Oval Office" when the full interview airs Monday.