President Joe Biden denounced Florida legislation restricting LGBTQ rights as «cruel» and «almost sinful» in a Monday night appearance on «The Daily Show.»
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the likely 2024 GOP presidential candidate, and the Republican-dominated state legislature have enacted laws banning classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools. are also considering bills to block medical care, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery, for transgender youth, and to grant courts emergency jurisdiction about children who might receive gender-affirming care. The state is at the beginning of its 2023 legislative session and is considering various other bills to further undermine LGBTQ rights.
“What’s happening in Florida is, as my mother would say, ‘almost sinful,’” Biden said. «It’s just terrible what they’re doing.»
«It’s not like a child woke up one morning and said, ‘You know, I decided that I want to become a man or a woman,'» he added. “I mean, what are they thinking here? They are human beings, they love, they have feelings, they have inclinations. It’s cruel.»
DeSantis responded to Biden’s comments in a cheep she posted Tuesday, defending her efforts to curtail gender-affirming attention, which she called «underage mutilation.»
“It is not acceptable for the federal government to mandate that procedures such as child sex change operations be allowed,” DeSantis said.
Biden said the way to respond is to pass legislation «like we did with same-sex marriage.» Last year, Biden signed legislation codifying protections for same-sex and interracial marriages.
“If you mess with that, you are breaking the law and you will be held accountable,” he said.
The House twice passed the Equality Act, a landmark LGBTQ rights bill that would expand federal protections in areas including employment, housing and education to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Although Biden said the law was a priority for his first 100 days in office, it has not received a vote in the Senate during his tenure.
Kal Penn, an actor and former Obama-Biden administration staffer, conducted the interview with Biden, where he also asked about the genesis of the president’s support for same-sex marriage. Biden recalled a scene from when he was a senior in high school and saw two men kiss.
«I turned and looked at my dad. He said, ‘Joey, it’s simple, they love each other,'» Biden said. «It’s that easy».