While appearing at the 34th annual GLAAD Media Awards over the weekend, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted that trans kids are "our kids" and "belong to all of us" in response to what she called "anti-LGBTQ+ legislation."
Speaking with the website Jezebel at the event on Saturday, Jean-Pierre, who identifies as "queer," talked about the importance of representation and visibility for young people. She also insisted that there needed to be more moments to "call out" Republican legislation for the sake of trans children.
"There are more than 600 pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation out there. A few hundred of them are anti-trans community, and that matters because we have to call that out. And we’ve never seen this level. It’s historic in the number of pieces of legislation," she said.
Jean-Pierre said, "I’ve met a lot of parents of trans kids in the past couple of months who have told me these devastating stories, whether they’re in Texas or Oklahoma or wherever they are, saying how they now have to seriously consider leaving their state to protect their child. That’s something that we have to call out and continue to be very clear about. These are kids. These are our kids. They belong to all of us."
Her comments resembled previous assertions from members of the Biden administration that implied U.S. children belong to the nation rather than their parents.
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Vice President Kamala Harris previously caught flak in October after repeatedly referring to American children as "our kids" and "our children."
"When you see our kids, and I truly believe that they are our children, they are the children of our country, of our communities, I mean, our future is really bright if we, if we prioritize them, and therefore prioritize the climate crisis and the need to address it. If we think about our children, prioritizing the need to bring our country together," Harris said on "Late Night with Seth Meyers."
President Biden himself quoted a former teacher during a speech in April asserting, "There is no such thing as someone else's child. No such thing as someone else's child. Our nation's children are all our children."
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Elsewhere during the interview, Jean-Pierre spoke about the importance of reaching out to the LGBTQ+ community as they go through a "horrific time."
"There’s been many times at the podium where I have called out these pieces of legislation. I’ve tried to do my best to reach out to the trans community and to the LGBTQ+ community from the podium so that they know what this administration is going to continue to do, which is fight, have their back, and continue to stand with them as they’re going through a truly devastating and horrific time," Jean-Pierre said.
In March, the White House press secretary insisted that the trans community was "under attack" due to LGBTQ+ legislation. This comment received backlash as it came just days after a deadly Nashville shooting at a Christian school by a trans individual.
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To the trans community, Jean-Pierre said at the time, "We love you, we see you, be who you are. It is important to be who you are and not let anyone tell you otherwise because that is your superpower."
