Trump targets trans minors and gender-affirming care in State of the Union address
US president Donald Trump. (Getty)
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday (24 February), President Donald Trump pointed his focus towards transgender youth, specifically referencing the story of Sage Blair, a Virginia teenager who was invited to the State of the Union alongside her mother.
In 2023 Blair’s mother, Michele sued the Appomattox County School Board over allegations that the district did not disclose information about Sage identifying as male.
As reported by WSET, Michele claimed that the school’s alleged withholding of this information contributed to Sage running away across state lines and subsequently experiencing abuse. The court case remains ongoing.
By alleging that school officials transitioned Blair’s gender identity without parental consent, Trump aimed to mobilise support for a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender children, telling Congress that “no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will,” adding: “We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately.”
Blair has also been central to legislative efforts in Virginia to enact “Sage’s Law”, which would mandate parental notification when students disclose a transgender identity and restrict even socially affirming practices like using their preferred name or pronouns without parental consent.
Critics, including civil rights organizations, have denounced this proposal as a harmful measure that endangers LGBTQ+ youth and undermines their civil rights, even describing the bill as a “forced outing”.
Advocacy groups have asserted that Trump’s comments perpetuate misinformation and threaten access to critical healthcare services for transgender individuals.
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