Tuesday, October 27, 2020

GOP smear that Biden supports surgery for transgender children backfires


In the same manner they've targeted LGBTQ people during other elections in the past, GOP operatives are attempting to help Trump by lying about Joe Biden and transgender children.

But in this case, truth smacked them in the face. 

According to Raw Story:

A reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer this week cornered a Trump-loving GOP operative for sending text messages to voters falsely claiming that Democratic presidential nominee supports having 8-year-old children undergo gender reassignment surgery. Terry Schilling, the executive director of the right-wing American Principles Project, defended his organization for sending out text messages to voters that cast false aspersion on Biden’s position that transgender children shouldn’t face discrimination.

The Philadelphia Inquirer said voters across the state of Pennsylvania got a text message telling them to watch a 30 second video in which a narrator accused Biden of endorsing transgender medical procedures for children as young as eight-years-old.

But according to the article's author, Chris Brennan, the claim is a lie:

The video includes images of Biden speaking to Mieke Haeck, the mother of an 8-year-old transgender child at an Oct. 15 ABC town hall in Philadelphia. Biden told Haeck “there should be zero discrimination” against transgender people, including children.

That was it. The statement which led APP to make its claim. 

When confronted by Brennan, Schilling, head of the APP,  said that Biden's statement could be extrapolated to mean that he does in fact support surgery for transgender children  It was obvious by the interview that Schilling was attempting to create another fake controversy against Biden not unlike the recent flop regarding his son's "emails." Brennan pointed out that the Biden camp didn't take the bait, but Mieke Haeck, the mother of the transgender child, was furious about how Schilling's group  exploited her family:

She called APP’s claims a “blatant lie” and considered the PAC’s video so over the top in its attempt to be scary that it was “almost laughable.” Haeck would have told Schilling that, if his PAC had reached out to her. “It has nothing to do with medical intervention, medication or surgery,” she said of her question for Biden. “That’s not what we’re talking about. It’s about my daughter using she and her pronouns, growing her hair and being who she is in her heart.”

Also, Brennan pointed out that the Associated Press had already debunked the lies about Biden and surgery for transgender children.

To reiterate,  the GOP sought to exploit fears and ignorance about the LGBTQ community in order to create a fake controversy against Biden. None of the parties they were targeting seemed to be biting. But those who were biting took a chunk out of their asses. So to speak.

'For transgender Americans, election stokes hopes and fear' & other Tue midday news briefs

Editor's Note - by the time you read this, Amy Coney Barrett will be a SCOTUS judge. There was no doubt that it would end this way. But there is much doubt that is THE END at all for us, our safety, and equality. Don't ever lose hope. And above all, get out there and vote if you haven't already.

For transgender advocates, election stokes hopes and fears - Yep and for the rest of us, too. But the trans community has a deeper stake because Trump devoted much of his anti-LGBTQ policy against them. 



Another gay teacher fired. LGBTQ students face expulsion. Discrimination continues in Florida schools | Commentary - From a publicly funded voucher school. So they want our tax money and also the ability to fire us for being LGBTQ.