Both Luther and Abigail have noted that, over the Easter weekend, the White House issued a proclamation declaring March 31 to be a “Transgender Day of Visibility.” Per Biden’s apologists, the president had no choice but to do this because the day exists in the private sector, and, as we all know, when a day exists in the private sector, the president is obliged to issue an executive order endorsing it. Per Biden himself, it didn’t happen. Or it did happen, but not in the way that Speaker Johnson had suggested. Or something. Irrespective, what interests me about the whole affair is that, despite the indignant rhetoric that has been marshaled in defense of the move, the White House seems only to have made its announcement in English. Apparently, recognizing “Transgender Day of Visibility” is imperative, but recognizing Día de la Visibilidad Transgénero is optional. How’s that for intersectionality?!
At 9am yesterday, the White House’s Twitter account posted the words “Happy Easter from the Biden-Harris Administration!” alongside a graphic that read “Happy Easter.” At exactly the same time, the Spanish version of the same account (@LaCasaBlanca) posted “¡Feliz Pascua les desea la administración Biden-Harris!” alongside a graphic that read “Feliz Pascua.” So far, so good. But when, four hours later, the White House released a message proposing that “Transgender Americans are part of the fabric of our nation,” there was no equivalent to be seen on La Casa Blanca. As a matter of fact, the only Spanish post that was added yesterday afternoon was a paen to César Chávez that, curiously enough, was not replicated on the English side.
Why? Defending Biden’s declaration, a spokesman for the White House, Andrew Bates, told ABC News that:
President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American. Sadly, it’s unsurprising politicians are seeking to divide and weaken our country with cruel, hateful, and dishonest rhetoric. President Biden will never abuse his faith for political purposes or for profit.
But if that’s true, surely it also applies equally in Spanish? If, indeed, Biden aims to spread a message of “bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American,” then he ought to want to do so on a polyglot basis, no? Andrew Bates insists that the president is allergic to “political purposes.” That being so, Biden must presumably be alarmed by how this looks — which is as if his political team understands that the transgender issue is popular among a particularly vocal section of his white progressive base but much less so among Hispanics writ large, and as if it has proceeding accordingly. Biden, his flacks inform us, exhibits a healthy distaste for any behavior that might “divide and weaken.” No doubt, a correction will be forthcoming as a result, and, in recompense, the president will start leaning aggressively into the topic when courting the non-white voters with whom, in this difficult re-election year, he seems to be unusually weak.