The Trans Day of Visibility: A Ridiculous Controversy

Using Easter as a cudgel against trans people and egged on by Trump, conservatives have created a nonsensical controversy.

Conor Kelly

Photo by Oriel Frankie Ashcroft on Pexels.com

Republicans love a controversy. If they can’t find one, it seems they will manufacture one. That seems to have been the thought process this Easter, as Republicans lambasted President Biden for seemingly attacking Easter, with none other than GOP candidate and former President spreading the lie.

The controversy began over a press release by the White House acknowledging The Trans Day of Visibility as March 31^st, 2024. Conservatives reacted with fury. Speaker Mike Johnson, who is facing a potential effort to remove him from Marjorie Taylor Greene, lambasted the move as an attack on the sacred nature of Easter and Christianity, saying, “The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

The Trump campaign also condemned the move in a statement, referring to it as “blasphemous” and calling on the Biden administration to apologize to “…the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” It is unclear why they felt the need to distinguish between Catholics and Christians, as Catholics are, by default, a Christian denomination, but that didn’t seem to draw as much ire as the mere mention of trans people by the White House.

It goes without saying that the Biden administration wasn’t instituting an attack on Easter or anything of the sort. The Trans Day of Visibility has been observed annually since March 31^st, 2009 when it was first created by activist Rachel Crandall Crocker, who created the holiday to allow trans people to gain recognition outside of the context of discrimination and mourning. Before that, the only trans event was the Trans Day of Remembrance, a memorial to trans people who were murdered. Frustrated by the focus on death and not on life, Crocker emphasized the joy of the larger trans community. At the time, she explained that the holiday “…focuses on the living.”

By contrast, Easter doesn’t have a situated date for observance and hasn’t since 325 AD, when the Council of Nicaea determined that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the Spring Equinox. The tradition of having different dates for Easter is, therefore, almost two thousand years old, and any supposed malicious intent by the Biden administration to replace Easter with Trans Visibility is, at best, nonsensical and, at worst, a downright lie. Since the Trans Day of Visibility was instituted in 2009, Easter has only landed on March 31st once in 2013. The idea that there is some plot to erase Easter is ridiculous.

It is also worth noting that Biden didn’t ignore Easter at all. If you go to the White House website, you can search Easter and see a statement on March 31^st, 2024, praising the holiday and explicitly celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. The statement reads:

“Jill and I send our warmest wishes to Christians worldwide celebrating Easter Sunday. Easter reminds us of the power of hope and the promise of Christ’s Resurrection.

As we gather with loved ones, we remember Jesus’ sacrifice. We pray for one another and cherish the blessing of the dawn of new possibilities. And with wars and conflict taking a toll on innocent lives around the world, we renew our commitment to work for peace, security, and dignity for all people.

From our family to yours, happy Easter, and may God bless you.”
Joe Biden, “Statement from President Joe Biden on Easter,” March 31st 2024.

If the Republicans wanted to, they could have easily enjoyed Easter in peace without a hint of division and allowed their fellow Americans to do the same. Instead, they manufactured a controversy that demonstrates not only their ignorance of the larger history of the holiday they claim to defend but also how willing they are to lie about their political opponents to gain power.

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References

Biden, Joe. 2024. “Statement from President Joe Biden on Easter.” The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/03/31/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-easter-2/ (April 1, 2024).

Biden, Joe. 2024. “A Proclamation on Transgender Day of Visibility, 2024.” The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/03/29/a-proclamation-on-transgender-day-of-visibility-2024/ (April 1, 2024).

Bureau, US Census. “Easter Dates from 1600 to 2099.” Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/data/software/x13as/genhol/easter-dates.html (April 1, 2024).

Carreras, Jessica. “PrideSource – Transgender Day of Visibility Plans Erupt Locally, Nationwide.” https://web.archive.org/web/20130327152446/http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=34351 (April 1, 2024).

Clymer, Charlotte. 2024. “This Rapist Doesn’t Care About Easter.” Charlotte’s Web Thoughts. https://charlotteclymer.substack.com/p/this-rapist-doesnt-care-about-easter?publication_id=20529&utm_campaign=email-post-title&r=bjjxr&utm_medium=email (April 1, 2024).

Elizabeth, Lauren. 2024. “Joe Biden, Easter, and More Manufactured Outrage From the GOP.” Medium. https://xlauren-mx.medium.com/joe-biden-easter-and-more-manufactured-outrage-from-the-gop-ff68b98b15cf (April 1, 2024).

Hillerbrand, Hans. 2024. “Easter | Origin, History, Name, Facts, & Dates | Britannica.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/Easter-holiday (April 1, 2024).

Liles, Jordan. 2024. “Biden Did Not Ban Religion from White House Easter Egg Art Contest, Despite False Reports.” Snopes. https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/biden-ban-religion-easter-egg/ (April 1, 2024).

Lillis, Mike. 2024. “Greene Goes after Johnson on Border, Says He ‘Completely Surrendered.’” The Hill. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4567513-greene-johnson-border-security-distraction/ (April 1, 2024).

“Religious-Themed Designs Banned from White House Easter Egg Art Contest.” https://nypost.com/2024/03/29/media/religious-themed-designs-banned-from-white-house-easter-egg-art-contest/ (April 1, 2024a).

“Speaker Mike Johnson on X: ‘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. Https://T.Co/ZCExyVkAVS’ / X.” 2024. X (formerly Twitter). https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1774147658841493617 (April 1, 2024).

“Transgender Day of Visibility | GLAAD.” 2022. https://glaad.org/tdov/ (April 1, 2024).

Wang, Amy B. 2024. “Trump Falsely Attacks Biden over Easter Coinciding with Transgender Day of Visibility.” Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/31/trump-biden-easter-transgender-day/ (April 1, 2024).

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