JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Outrage was voiced locally and nationally after President Joe Biden issued a proclamation for Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31. It’s an observance held on the same date every year since 2009.
But this year, Easter Sunday also happens to fall on March 31, which sparked backlash to the president’s proclamation.
The president of PFLAG Jacksonville, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said she wishes people weren’t upset about a day that has been celebrated on March 31 for over a decade and wishes the attention would be shifted to making sure people in the transgender community are being accepted for who they are.
The proclamation that some people locally and nationally are upset about declares March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility. It’s a day of celebrations and educational events designed to bring attention to transgender people.
The day was created in 2009 and has always been observed on March 31, including during all four years of the Trump administration. The only other time that Easter has fallen on March 31 since Transgender Day of Visibility was created was in 2013, during the Obama administration.
Easter usually falls between March 22 and April 25 every year. The holiday is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon or following the spring equinox.
The Republican Party of Florida and the Republican Party of Duval County both issued statements about Biden’s proclamation, which was among 11 proclamations the president signed on Friday, including declaring March 31 Cesar Chavez Day.
This is a portion of the statement from Duval County party chair Dean Black:
“Instead of celebrating Easter, Joe Biden proclaimed March 31st as ‘Transgender Day of Visibility.’ This is a slap to the face to all Christians! Not only has Biden decided to usurp Easter in the name of appeasing his extreme base, but the White House has also banned any ‘religious-themed’ Easter eggs for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.”
News4JAX reached out to different LGBTQ+ organizations about the backlash, and Mason Manion, the Northeast Florida Development Leader for Equality Florida, shared this statement:
“I am a practicing Christian and I lead the music at Avondale United Methodist Church and I can speak for myself and other members of our Congregation and we don’t care. We don’t care that it’s on the same day as Easter. We’re going to celebrate Easter and we’re going to celebrate the Resurrection Day as some people refer to it and we’re also going to celebrate our Transgender Community and we can do both of those things at the same time. They’re not mutually exclusive.”
The other proclamations signed by Biden on Friday included declaring April 1-7 National Public Health Week and declaring all of April:
- National Donate Life Month (recognizing organ donation)
- Month of the Military Child (honoring children of military service members)
- Second Chance Month (focused on the criminal justice system)