On Tuesday, Republican lawmaker Matt Gaetz explained that he could not support a new transgender rights bill, citing the legislation’s potential to be exploited by “bad actors,” while using a rather unusual suggestion to illustrate his point.
Gaetz asked, “if President Trump were to say, ‘I’m am now the first female president,’ who would celebrate that?”
Rep. Matt Gaetz, during a hearing on transgender rights, wonders what would happen if Trump were to declare himself the first female president. pic.twitter.com/uYFheZVjUN
— Alexander Nazaryan (@alexnazaryan) April 2, 2019
“I strongly support the rights of transgender individuals,” Gaetz said, explaining, “I will not denigrate or deny their struggles, but I am concerned about the potential bad actors who would exploit the provisions for their own gain.”
Gaetz said that the current legislation “would only nominally protect certain individuals, while causing tremendous harm to others.”
“I want to support this legislation, and in the broadest sense – I do,” explained Gaetz. “I believe that individuals in our country should not face discrimination for their sex, or their gender, or their sexual orientation.”