Republican Congresswoman With Trans Son Breaks Ranks, Criticizes Trans Rights Rollback
For Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Trump's decision to rescind protections for trans students is personal.
The Florida Republican has a transgender son, and wasn't afraid to break away from her party to publicly denounce the Trump administration's reversal of federal guidelines put in place by Obama last year that protected trans students from discrimination.
“This lamentable decision can lead to hostile treatment of transgender students and studies have shown that bullying and harassment can be detrimental to the emotional and physical well-being of teenagers,” Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement after news of the decision broke on Wednesday.
Ros-Lehtinen has fought for these protections before, having teamed up with with Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo. in 2015 on the Student Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would have prohibited schools from discriminating against children based on their gender identity or sexual orientation. The Congresswoman said that she now plans to reintroduce the bill in order to prevent the intolerance that the Trump administration's decision will permit.
"Evidence has shown that acceptance of transgender students lowers their risk of suicide," she continued. "Jared and I introduced our SNDA bill to prevent discrimination of transgender young people and we will re-introduce it because our country benefits when everyone is accepted and we live up to our nation’s promise of inclusiveness."
Ros-Lehtinen has disagreed with members of her conservative party before, including coming out in support of same-sex marriage rights. The Congresswoman also appeared with her husband and trans son, Rodrigo, in a PSA for the Florida gay rights group SAVE.
“Family is about acceptance and love," she says in the video below. "All of our children should have the opportunity to work hard, earn a living and take responsibility for their lives on the same terms as everyone else."
