October 25, 2024 - 4:00pm
Kamala Harris avoided directly answering whether she supports cross-sex medical treatments during an ABC interview released this week.
When asked this week whether she believes “transgender Americans should have access to gender-affirming care,” Harris deflected, pointing to Donald Trump’s healthcare plans. Eventually, she said “that is a decision that doctors will make in terms of what is medically necessary. I’m not going to put myself in a position of a doctor.”
The response marks a major pivot for Harris, who in 2019 expressed support for taxpayer-funded sex change procedures for prisoners and illegal immigrants in detention centres. It’s part of a broader shift within the Democratic Party toward a more moderate position on transgender issues.
Significantly, the question was not about the more contentious issue of transgender children, but about transgender treatments in general. When prompted again for a direct answer, she said, “I believe that all people should be treated with dignity and respect, period, and should not be vilified for who they are, and should not be bullied for who they are.”
Weeks earlier, Colin Allred, the Texas Democratic candidate attempting to unseat Ted Cruz, broke with the Democratic mainstream on trans sports participation following related attack ads from his opponent. “I’m a dad. I’m also a Christian,” he said. “I don’t want boys playing girls’ sports, or any of this ridiculous stuff Ted Cruz is saying.”
The Biden-Harris administration has also significantly softened its position on trans issues this year. Previously, the White House firmly endorsed transgender treatments for minors and led a whole-of-government promotion of trans issues, which included pressure from the Department of Justice on states restricting child transitions.
But this summer, the Biden administration announced that it opposed transgender surgeries for minors and, following complaints from trans activists, expressed support for “gender-affirming care for minors like mental health care”, declining to explicitly endorse hormones and puberty blockers.
Democrats have broadly supported cross-sex medical treatments, including for minors, for years. But the party’s position is unpopular with voters, as the majority of Americans oppose access to puberty blockers and hormones for children. Meanwhile, laws that would make these treatments illegal have been subject to attack from Democrats, who have characterised those policies as discriminatory.
As the party shifts toward the centre on trans issues, a vocal minority within the party continues to move in the opposite direction. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation this summer banning schools from disclosing children’s gender identity to parents, a bill sponsored by a number of vocal proponents of LGBT issues including state Sen. Scott Wiener.
A similar pattern played out in Minnesota, where state Rep. Leigh Finke, who is transgender, wrote a bill making the state a “refuge” for transgender medical procedures. The legislation, signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ running mate, gives Minnesota courts jurisdiction over custody cases related to cross-sex treatments, overriding custody laws of the child’s home state. Republicans have used this to attack Walz, arguing that it empowers the state to revoke child custody when parents oppose their child’s medical transition.
The Trump campaign and aligned PACs have been focusing on transgender issues in the closing weeks of the elections, targeting swing state voters with ads highlighting Harris’ various pro-trans statements throughout her career. Harris’ tone now is strikingly different even compared to this spring, when she wrote, “On Transgender Day of Visibility, I say to all trans and non-binary people: We see you. We love you. We will never stop fighting for you.”
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SubscribeDems are lying because they’re so desperate for votes. Of course they’ll carry on with the gender crap they’ve been forcing on us.
From a UK perspective let’s hope they don’t get the chance.
Seems to be their toning down the rhetoric to woo back voters temporarily. It’s like when the loser boyfriend keeps telling the girl “I’ll change for real this time babe!” Everytime she tells him to get a job or she’s leaving, and like clockwork he makes a bunch of promises and six months later they’re back in the same situation.
In fact a loser boyfriend is a pretty apt analogy for the Democratic party and their die hard supporters.
“Harris’ tone now is strikingly different even compared to this spring, when she wrote, “On Transgender Day of Visibility, I say to all trans and non-binary people: We see you. We love you. We will never stop fighting for you.”
… and we will never stop castrating you.
The Dems will realign on a wide range of issues that have almost zero public support – open borders, net zero, trans surgery for children, DEI, student loan forgiveness etc – or they will be crushed in 2028. Scaring people to vote for them might possibly work with Trump this time, but this is their last kick at the bucket using that strategy.
Is any of Kamala’s recent damascene conversion away from her ultra woke past real? I sincerely doubt it.
Just one more reason why USA and the world in general needs Trump to win.
But the consequence of that change in her ‘true’ views is that her previous views were wrong.
As I’ve grown older, some of my past beliefs have changed. More knowledge and experiences have changed my views. And I’ve been wrong sometimes. I’m willing to admit that. I was once idealistic and, of course, I was right and you were wrong. Black and white thinking, which is common in young people. But as time when by, things became grey. The world was complicated. Sometimes I don’t know what to think, for example the Israel/Palestinian war.
That’s a great position to have arrived at. Where you can truly see all that is involved, or at least a lot. And that there are no solutions, only trade-offs.
I’ve looked at the varied polls about trans people and more specifically the sex reassigning of children. They, especially Pew, have so many breakdowns (age, sex, color, political party) and it can get overwhelming. I like my own survey of Democrats. I am a daily reader of the New York Times, and whenever they have an article or op-Ed essay about a trans issue, especially children, I like to read the comments. The Times’ readership is mainly progressives, liberals and moderate Democrats, so I get a pretty good picture of what Democrats think about the issue. There have been about three or four articles about the medical treatment of children. About 90+ percent of commenters are against transitioning children, which is a higher number than the polls. But the number of comments, usually around 3000+ (it’s a hot topic), is a larger number of people than typical polls use. Another hot topic is men competing in women’s sports. I would say around 95 percent oppose it, and 99 percent of women do. Obviously. One article about the trans issue in Britain band brought up the issue of men in women’s prisons. About 98 percent of readers opposed it. There was a hilarious response to an article about girls starting their periods. Other than the first sentence, the article did not say the words girl or mother. It sounded very awkward. Women descended. We were angry that the trans mafia had made those words unsayable. Men can have periods and get pregnant!!! Disgusted was a common word in the comments. So, my reading of mainly Democratic comments is that they aren’t necessarily on board with some of the topics. They do support trans rights to not be discriminated against, but in a couple of polls so did Republicans. They should have the same rights as all Americans. Most people agreed with that.
Good observations. Not hard data, but solid enough proof the tide is changing. Based on my anecdotal experience, I think it’s a combination of people actually learning what this madness is and/or feeling a bit freer to criticize it. I live in a purple California county and the trump signs are popping up everywhere, places they weren’t in 2020. I’ve also noticed people are a bit less guarded in sharing certain opinions. Not a bad thing
a daily reader of the New York Times
I hope that you read much more than that propaganda rag, which continues it’s 100+ year old tradition of antisemitism. It’s like gargling with sewer water.
The man who founded the Times was Jewish, and for years that Jewish family ran the paper. It wasn’t until fairly recently, that the Times
was sold to a large company (can’t remember which) and the Ochs family ended their reign . I’ve not seen any anti-Sematic stories or op-Ed pieces. The paper, is very neutral, as they should be.
This always strikes me as very odd. As if something as major as being the opposite gender to what your parents take you to be could simply slip under the parental radar.
I know some parents are a bit obtuse, but if a trans child really is a boys mind in a girls body (or vice versa) you really would expect it to be pretty obvious from their behaviour. Or are the parents simply in denial of something that is plain to everyone else.
And if it really isn’t that obvious, what is the difference between a child really being a mind in the wrong body, and simply saying they are.
Let alone the children that wish to be treated as dogs or cats etc.
I’d say it’s a bit more than odd; I’d characterize it as monstrous. Tim Walz has signed a bill into law that allows Minnesota courts to ignore child custody laws in other states if a child makes it there seeking gender reassignment. So, if your underaged child runs away and makes it to Minnesota seeking gender-reassignment surgery, you can’t do anything about it as the parent. Minnesota will intervene to keep your child away from you so that she can receive irreversible hormone treatments and/or surgeries without your permission. Keep in mind, we’re talking about minors who can’t legally enter into contracts, vote, drink, smoke, get a tattoo, etc. Not only is this sinister and morally disgusting, it’s also obviously unconstitutional. I’m sure this Minnesota law will come before the SCOTUS eventually, the SCOTUS will reaffirm parents’ rights to guide the upbringing of their own children, and Minnesota will do what every blue state does in cases like this – ignore the SCOTUS’s ruling.
https://www.house.mn.gov/NewLaws/story/2023/5541
Worry about fact high schoolers now given few non YA novels to read. Bellow, Faulkner, Hemingway Hurston and Wharton are de facto banned. Likewise Hawthorne and Dickens. No wailing from ultra liberals about that. Lets replace Odyssey with fifth grade level novel about Nigerian gay immigrant who is unjustly kept off the basketball team because he merely sold an ounce of dope to undercover agent and then kills himself.
They are banning books not schools. As a retired English teacher, I wouldn’t worry too much. Kids don’t read anymore. Their phones are more interesting.
This always strikes me as very odd. As if something as major as being the opposite gender to what your parents take you to be could simply slip under the parental radar.
I know some parents are a bit obtuse, but if a trans child really is a boys mind in a girls body (or vice versa) you really would expect it to be pretty obvious from their behaviour. Or are the parents simply in denial of something that is plain to everyone else.
And if it really isn’t that obvious, what is the difference between a child really being a mind in the wrong body, and simply saying they are.
No gender treatment before 18. Worry about a job.
Surely the bigger question is will they dump Harris?
At last the Democrats are growing a pair. It may be too late, though, as is deciding as a male you are not your assigned sex when in jail, not as good an athlete as you thought you were, nor when you decide to do some bizarre act such as put makeup on in a women’s bathroom after a heavy workout at the gym.