Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said that he wants transgender children to “live in fear” of their own parents in response to a bishop asking Donald Trump to have “mercy” on LGBTQ+ people.

Tuberville was responding to Right Rev. Marian Budde’s plea earlier this week that Trump have empathy for LGBTQ+ people – especially children – and immigrants.

Related

Donald Trump may soon ban trans people in the military. Advocates say he won’t get away with it.
Trans rights advocates fought the ban in courts in Trump’s first term. They say their case has only gotten stronger.

“You have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now,” she said at a prayer service on Tuesday. “There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives.”

Insights for the LGBTQ+ community

Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Tuberville took issue with the Christian leader’s support for all children.

“These ‘trans children’ should live in fear of their parents,” Tuberville wrote on X, “and the sick people that enable those ‘guardians.’”

“It’s child abuse. An absolute disgrace.”

Tuberville’s comments are based on the anti-LGBTQ+ myth that no one is actually LGBTQ+, that everyone is straight and cisgender until LGBTQ+ adults turn them gay or trans. This notion is false; homosexuality and trans identity are both natural parts of human diversity.

Moreover, there is no evidence that a person who is not LGBTQ+ can be turned LGBTQ+ by their parents.

Instead, it’s a common experience for trans youth to hide their identities from authority figures, including their parents and teachers, because they know they are expected to be cisgender. Trans kids who do come out to their families often face rejection, punishment, abuse, conversion therapy, and homelessness instead of finding acceptance for who they are.

“Tuberville’s suggestion that trans children should be scared of their parents when they already experience greater rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation is antithetical to Jesus’ directive to treat others as you would have them treat yourself. Trans youth already face bullying at a much higher rate than their cisgender peers, and they certainly don’t need a US senator adding to that harassment,” the Alabama Transgender Rights Action Coalition said in remarks to AL.com.

“We take the remark to be a denial of all trans folks’ lived experiences, especially within the context of expected executive actions… Science and medicine affirm the existence of a whole spectrum of gender that includes cisgender and transgender people alike. The administration’s stance on this benefits no one, and contradicts widely accepted medical best practice.”

Trump also reacted negatively to being told to have “mercy” on LGBTQ+ people and immigrants, calling Bishop Budde “nasty” and demanding she apologize.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.