President Biden calls anti-LGBTQ legislation ‘close to sinful’

President Joe Biden has come out against a wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation describing it as “close to sinful.”

It follows Tennessee’s introduction of legislation banning drag shows as well as gender-affirming care for minors. Other states have introduced or passed similar legislation like Florida, which also introduced the ‘Don’t Say Gay, Don’t Say Trans’ bill.

Speaking to Kal Penn, who came out as gay last year, on The Daily Show, Biden commented on his evolution on same-sex marriage.

Biden told Penn he’d seen two men kiss while he was at high school. His dad told him “‘It’s simple, they love each other.'”

The President then repeated: “It’s just that simple.”

Biden voted for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which kept marriage between a man and a woman. Last year Biden signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act, which grants marriage equality to same-sex and interracial couples.

Turning to trans children Biden continued: “What’s going on in Florida is, as my mother would say, [is] close to sinful. It is just terrible what they are doing.”

“It’s not like a kid wakes up one morning and says, ‘You know, I decided I want to become a man or I want to become a woman, or I want to change’.

“What are they thinking about here? They’re human beings. They love, they have feelings, they have inclinations that are… it just to me, is, I don’t know, it’s cruel.”

Biden resolved: “The way we do it is we make sure we pass legislation like we did with same-sex marriage. You mess with that you’re breaking the law and you’re going to be held accountable.”

The American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking 409 anti-LGBTQ bills in the US.

It comes amid a sharp rise in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, mostly from Republicans and those on the far-right.

Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, widely expected to announce a 2024 Presidental election bid, has led the way in campaigning against “woke ideology.”