Although Transgender Day of Visibility falls on March 31 every year, this year is especially upsetting for bigots
By KELLY MCCLURE
Nights & Weekends Editor
PUBLISHED MARCH 30, 2024
PUBLISHED MARCH 30, 2024
U.S. President Joe Biden, alongside First Lady Jill Biden gestures after speaking at the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 10, 2023.
(ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The first International Transgender Day of Visibility was on March 31, 2009 and has been celebrated on the same day of the year from then on. But this year, since it happens to fall on Easter Sunday, certain people are losing their minds about it. Especially Republicans.
On Friday, the White House made the following announcement:
“I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., president of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility. I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination against all transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people.”
And judging by the response, you would think that Biden proclaimed this Sunday International Worship Satan Day.
Trump’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is asking for an apology from the White House for this day falling on the same day it always has, which has nothing at all to do with Biden, writing, “We call on Joe Biden’s failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” And others like her fell right in line.
The first International Transgender Day of Visibility was on March 31, 2009 and has been celebrated on the same day of the year from then on. But this year, since it happens to fall on Easter Sunday, certain people are losing their minds about it. Especially Republicans.
On Friday, the White House made the following announcement:
“I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., president of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility. I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination against all transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people.”
And judging by the response, you would think that Biden proclaimed this Sunday International Worship Satan Day.
Trump’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is asking for an apology from the White House for this day falling on the same day it always has, which has nothing at all to do with Biden, writing, “We call on Joe Biden’s failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” And others like her fell right in line.
In a post to X (formerly Twitter) from Monica Crowley, Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, she writes, The “president” has proclaimed Easter Sunday as “Transgender Day of Visibility." This is a spiritual war. See it & understand it. Fast."
And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene clocks into the discourse with, "Biden and the Democrats decided Easter - the Holy Day of our Savior’s Resurrection - as transgender day of visibility. There is no length Biden and the Democrats won’t go to to mock your faith, and to thumb his nose at God. We know that Christ is King and God will not be mocked, just like we know Joe Biden isn’t really the one calling the shots in the White House. Psalm 37:13: ‘but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.’"
Creating a whole video to explain how these folks are misguided, political commentator Brian Krassenstein writes, "To the ignorant people claiming that The White House and Biden are Satan for 'declaring Easter Sunday as Transgender Day of Visibility,' every March 31st for the last 15 years, including 4 years under Trump was International Transgender Day of Visibility. In 2029 when Easter happens to fall on April Fools Day will you all claim that whoever is President then must think that Easter is a Joke? At least inform yourselves before jumping on the ignorance bandwagon."
Watch here:
Transgender Day of Visibility
PRESS STATEMENT
THE SECRETARY OF STATE
MARCH 31, 2024
Transgender Day of Visibility is a celebration of the courage and resilience of transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-confirming persons who exist in every country and culture around the world. On this day, the United States recognizes the achievements and progress that trans persons have made in the global struggle for equality and re-affirms its commitment to supporting the equality, inclusion, and full recognition of the human rights of transgender persons.
In many parts of the world, trans persons face violence, suppression, and infringements on their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly, as society treats trans persons with stigma, discrimination, and violence. Transgender persons deserve to live authentically, safely, and with dignity. They deserve documentation that reflects who they are, healthcare that is responsive to their needs, and the right to live full lives of opportunity.
It is clear that there is still much work to do. We urge our partners around the globe to work with the United States in fighting for a world in which transgender persons are free to live safely and openly as themselves.
PRESS STATEMENT
THE SECRETARY OF STATE
MARCH 31, 2024
Transgender Day of Visibility is a celebration of the courage and resilience of transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-confirming persons who exist in every country and culture around the world. On this day, the United States recognizes the achievements and progress that trans persons have made in the global struggle for equality and re-affirms its commitment to supporting the equality, inclusion, and full recognition of the human rights of transgender persons.
In many parts of the world, trans persons face violence, suppression, and infringements on their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly, as society treats trans persons with stigma, discrimination, and violence. Transgender persons deserve to live authentically, safely, and with dignity. They deserve documentation that reflects who they are, healthcare that is responsive to their needs, and the right to live full lives of opportunity.
It is clear that there is still much work to do. We urge our partners around the globe to work with the United States in fighting for a world in which transgender persons are free to live safely and openly as themselves.
As Biden supports 'Trans Day of Visibility,' Iran cracks down on the LGBT community
Iran, which has continuously cracked down on LGBTQ+ rights, has used gender-affirming surgery as a way to enforce heteronormativity on the gay community.
MARCH 31, 2024
JERUSALEM POST
Thousands participate in the annual Gay Pride Parade in Tel Aviv, on June 8, 2023
.(photo credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
The capital city of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran, announced in early March that transgender people should not appear in popular sections of the metropolis.
The Tehran city council directive to ostracize transgender people coincides with US President Biden declaring that March 31 is "Transgender Day of Visibility.”
The US government-funded news organization Radio Farda reported that Tehran city council spokesman Alireza Nadali said transgender people should not congregate at heavily crowded locations such as the Valiasr Intersection.
"We're not sweeping the issue under the rug. There should be an inclusive space for them, just not in this busy area," Nadali said.
Radio Farda said Valiasr Intersection is a “ focal point in Tehran for both its cultural significance and as a site of major public gatherings, including protests.”
Sophie Baron-Amirteymour, an Iranian-American who is transgender, told the Jerusalem Post "The notion of the Islamic Republic being trans-friendly is regime propaganda aimed at naive Western leftists. Gender reassignment surgery is often imposed on homosexuals as a regime -endorsed cure for their 'mental disease.' As long as gender non conforming behaviour remains illegal, and an Islamist establishment reacts with violence towards LGBT individuals, Iranian trans people remain unable to live as they please and truly search for their personal happiness."
Jessica Emami, an Iranian-American lesbian sociologist, told The Jerusalem Post, “The Iranian government as a whole has used transgender surgery as a way to enforce heteronormativity on gay people. They compel gays and lesbians to get surgery to become the opposite sex. That is the only reason why they accept transgenderism.” She added, “Of course, that does not mean there aren’t any transgender people. “
She said the regime wants to “control their presence” and “control their social life.” Emami added, “These announcements by city officials do nothing to improve families who are domestically violent against LGBT people, and the policy does not help or address honor killings against LGBT people carried out by family members."
Gigi Pour, an Iranian-American refugee and LGBTQ+ rights advocate, told The Post that “Regarding transgenders in Iran, clearly the regime has realized being trans is not the same as being gay for whom they have figured the sex tradition operation. The trans community is not safe regardless of the country they live in.“
She added that “Here in the US transgenders are also subject to harsh physical violence and acts of murder. Clearly the regime has realized the trans community can’t be pigeonholed as gay or lesbian. They are creative, flamboyant and fierce. The regime is not interested in including them but rather have them excluded from society.”
A method for shielding regime repression
Many apologists of the Islamic Republic of Iran see the nation’s transgender policy as an expression of liberalism. The Economist noted in a 2019 article that the Islamic Republic’s exploitation of sex-reassignment surgery (SRS) has been used to purge gays and lesbians from public life.
“Gay Iranians face pressure to change their sex regardless of whether they want to, say activists and psychologists in Iran. Therapists tell patients with same-sex desires that they may be transgender, not gay," wrote The Economist. “I thought I was trans until I was 18 because the only information online and in newspapers was about transsexuals,” a psychologist in Tehran who is a lesbian told the magazine. “It is a system where homosexuals are not educated, and the law does not protect them.”
The clerical regime has codified the death penalty in its Islamic Sharia law system for same-sex relations. According to a 2008 British Wikileaks cable, the Iranian regime executed between 4,000-6,000 gays and lesbians since the 1979 Islamic revolution. During the tenure of the Holocaust-denying Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he declared his country didn’t have any gay people.
The theocratic state’s first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, authorized SRS after he met a transgender person in the mid-1980s.
The Scottish Jewish journalist Eva Barlow posted on X last week that “The betrayal by groups such as Queers For Palestine and LGBTQ+ popstars and artists for gay Jews like myself isn't just about our expulsion from the tribe, but it's also about their self-betrayal. PRIDE is about confidence and strength in knowing yourself. Not cowering to others. Not desperately trying to be liked.”
Emami, the sociologist, said Western “Queers for Palestine idea is just a fantasy.” She continued that “I do not doubt if unorganized groups of queers went to Palestine unannounced, they would be dealt with violently by the government and the people.”
She said Palestinian LGBTQ only gather in areas that are governed by Israel because they are so endangered in places like Nablus that are under the Palestinian Authority (PA). Emami said Palestinian LGBTQ people meet in Haifa in Israel to avoid persecution by the PA.
According to critics, a telling example of Western naiveté and a one-sided approach to the dire plight of the LGBTQ+ community in the Gaza Strip and the wider Middle East is a slated Sunday panel at the Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York City titled “Reclaiming Queerness, Reclaiming Palestine: A long table session reflecting on queer Palestinian reclamation.”
The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art states on its website that it is “a home for LGBTQIA+ artists, scholars, activists, and allies, and a catalyst for discourse on art and queerness.”
The Post reached out numerous times to the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art. A press query was sent asking if the panel would discuss Hamas' lethal homophobia, its persecution of gays and lesbians, and Hamas' rape of people on October 7 and after the jihadi terrorist group took hostages. The Museum refused to comment. The US and Europe classified Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization.
Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, and the sections in the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority governs are considered the most dangerous places for LGBT travelers, according to a 2021 entry on the travel blog Asher and Lyric.
Israel is widely regarded as the only safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community in the heart of the Middle East.
A 2022 BBC article reported that “Gay Palestinian Ahmad Abu Marhia [who was] beheaded in West Bank."
The report read, "Palestinian police have arrested a suspect in the killing of a 25-year-old man after his body was found decapitated in the occupied West Bank. LGBTQ groups say he had spent two years in Israel waiting on an asylum claim to flee abroad after receiving death threats from within his community.”
In October 2022, an AP report said, “LGBT Palestinians Targeted by Hamas Regime." According to the AP, “Palestinian Authority police have banned a Palestinian LGBT rights group from organizing any activities in the West Bank and threatened to arrest them, saying such activities are contrary to the 'values of Palestinian society.'”
The US-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) revealed that on September 16, 2023, the Hezbollah-affiliated Mayadeen TV network aired a report about opposition in Gaza to the new UNRWA Code of Conduct, which the reporter said promotes homosexuality and asserts that there are homosexuals among UNRWA employees and the refugees.”
Muhammad Shwadeh of the UNRWA Workers Union said that "it started" with equality between men and women, and now the UNRWA are demanding equality for "groups that do not exist among the Palestinian people."
MEMRI also noted that in a sermon that was posted to the Al-Aqsa Call YouTube channel on June 26, 2022, Palestinian Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousef Abu Islam preached that Allah said homosexuals "should be thrown head first from the rooftop of the tallest building, and then they should be stoned."
The capital city of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran, announced in early March that transgender people should not appear in popular sections of the metropolis.
The Tehran city council directive to ostracize transgender people coincides with US President Biden declaring that March 31 is "Transgender Day of Visibility.”
The US government-funded news organization Radio Farda reported that Tehran city council spokesman Alireza Nadali said transgender people should not congregate at heavily crowded locations such as the Valiasr Intersection.
"We're not sweeping the issue under the rug. There should be an inclusive space for them, just not in this busy area," Nadali said.
Radio Farda said Valiasr Intersection is a “ focal point in Tehran for both its cultural significance and as a site of major public gatherings, including protests.”
Sophie Baron-Amirteymour, an Iranian-American who is transgender, told the Jerusalem Post "The notion of the Islamic Republic being trans-friendly is regime propaganda aimed at naive Western leftists. Gender reassignment surgery is often imposed on homosexuals as a regime -endorsed cure for their 'mental disease.' As long as gender non conforming behaviour remains illegal, and an Islamist establishment reacts with violence towards LGBT individuals, Iranian trans people remain unable to live as they please and truly search for their personal happiness."
Jessica Emami, an Iranian-American lesbian sociologist, told The Jerusalem Post, “The Iranian government as a whole has used transgender surgery as a way to enforce heteronormativity on gay people. They compel gays and lesbians to get surgery to become the opposite sex. That is the only reason why they accept transgenderism.” She added, “Of course, that does not mean there aren’t any transgender people. “
She said the regime wants to “control their presence” and “control their social life.” Emami added, “These announcements by city officials do nothing to improve families who are domestically violent against LGBT people, and the policy does not help or address honor killings against LGBT people carried out by family members."
Gigi Pour, an Iranian-American refugee and LGBTQ+ rights advocate, told The Post that “Regarding transgenders in Iran, clearly the regime has realized being trans is not the same as being gay for whom they have figured the sex tradition operation. The trans community is not safe regardless of the country they live in.“
She added that “Here in the US transgenders are also subject to harsh physical violence and acts of murder. Clearly the regime has realized the trans community can’t be pigeonholed as gay or lesbian. They are creative, flamboyant and fierce. The regime is not interested in including them but rather have them excluded from society.”
A method for shielding regime repression
Many apologists of the Islamic Republic of Iran see the nation’s transgender policy as an expression of liberalism. The Economist noted in a 2019 article that the Islamic Republic’s exploitation of sex-reassignment surgery (SRS) has been used to purge gays and lesbians from public life.
“Gay Iranians face pressure to change their sex regardless of whether they want to, say activists and psychologists in Iran. Therapists tell patients with same-sex desires that they may be transgender, not gay," wrote The Economist. “I thought I was trans until I was 18 because the only information online and in newspapers was about transsexuals,” a psychologist in Tehran who is a lesbian told the magazine. “It is a system where homosexuals are not educated, and the law does not protect them.”
The clerical regime has codified the death penalty in its Islamic Sharia law system for same-sex relations. According to a 2008 British Wikileaks cable, the Iranian regime executed between 4,000-6,000 gays and lesbians since the 1979 Islamic revolution. During the tenure of the Holocaust-denying Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he declared his country didn’t have any gay people.
The theocratic state’s first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, authorized SRS after he met a transgender person in the mid-1980s.
The Scottish Jewish journalist Eva Barlow posted on X last week that “The betrayal by groups such as Queers For Palestine and LGBTQ+ popstars and artists for gay Jews like myself isn't just about our expulsion from the tribe, but it's also about their self-betrayal. PRIDE is about confidence and strength in knowing yourself. Not cowering to others. Not desperately trying to be liked.”
Emami, the sociologist, said Western “Queers for Palestine idea is just a fantasy.” She continued that “I do not doubt if unorganized groups of queers went to Palestine unannounced, they would be dealt with violently by the government and the people.”
She said Palestinian LGBTQ only gather in areas that are governed by Israel because they are so endangered in places like Nablus that are under the Palestinian Authority (PA). Emami said Palestinian LGBTQ people meet in Haifa in Israel to avoid persecution by the PA.
According to critics, a telling example of Western naiveté and a one-sided approach to the dire plight of the LGBTQ+ community in the Gaza Strip and the wider Middle East is a slated Sunday panel at the Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York City titled “Reclaiming Queerness, Reclaiming Palestine: A long table session reflecting on queer Palestinian reclamation.”
The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art states on its website that it is “a home for LGBTQIA+ artists, scholars, activists, and allies, and a catalyst for discourse on art and queerness.”
The Post reached out numerous times to the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art. A press query was sent asking if the panel would discuss Hamas' lethal homophobia, its persecution of gays and lesbians, and Hamas' rape of people on October 7 and after the jihadi terrorist group took hostages. The Museum refused to comment. The US and Europe classified Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization.
Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, and the sections in the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority governs are considered the most dangerous places for LGBT travelers, according to a 2021 entry on the travel blog Asher and Lyric.
Israel is widely regarded as the only safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community in the heart of the Middle East.
A 2022 BBC article reported that “Gay Palestinian Ahmad Abu Marhia [who was] beheaded in West Bank."
The report read, "Palestinian police have arrested a suspect in the killing of a 25-year-old man after his body was found decapitated in the occupied West Bank. LGBTQ groups say he had spent two years in Israel waiting on an asylum claim to flee abroad after receiving death threats from within his community.”
In October 2022, an AP report said, “LGBT Palestinians Targeted by Hamas Regime." According to the AP, “Palestinian Authority police have banned a Palestinian LGBT rights group from organizing any activities in the West Bank and threatened to arrest them, saying such activities are contrary to the 'values of Palestinian society.'”
The US-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) revealed that on September 16, 2023, the Hezbollah-affiliated Mayadeen TV network aired a report about opposition in Gaza to the new UNRWA Code of Conduct, which the reporter said promotes homosexuality and asserts that there are homosexuals among UNRWA employees and the refugees.”
Muhammad Shwadeh of the UNRWA Workers Union said that "it started" with equality between men and women, and now the UNRWA are demanding equality for "groups that do not exist among the Palestinian people."
MEMRI also noted that in a sermon that was posted to the Al-Aqsa Call YouTube channel on June 26, 2022, Palestinian Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousef Abu Islam preached that Allah said homosexuals "should be thrown head first from the rooftop of the tallest building, and then they should be stoned."
White House bashes 'dishonest' Republican criticism of Biden's transgender proclamation on Easter
Easter's date happened to coincide with the Transgender Day of Visibility.
ByFritz Farrow and Kendall Ross
March 31, 2024
The White House is pushing back against top Republicans' misleading criticism of President Joe Biden for issuing a proclamation in support of transgender people on the same day as Easter.
A spokesman for the president rejected the attacks from the House speaker and others that Biden's message for the Transgender Day of Visibility goes against Christianity.
"As a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement to ABC News.
"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," Bates added.
Biden, who is only America's second Catholic president and regularly attends Mass, faced mounting conservative criticism over the weekend because of a proclamation he issued on Friday honoring "the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans" for the Transgender Day of Visibility -- which occurs annually on March 31.
The date of Easter, which varies, fell on the same day this year.
Biden has issued a proclamation marking March 31 as the Transgender Day of Visibility every year since he took office in 2021.
He also issued a statement on Sunday marking Easter, saying in part that it "reminds us of the power of hope and the promise of Christ’s Resurrection. As we gather with loved ones, we remember Jesus' sacrifice. We pray for one another and cherish the blessing of the dawn of new possibilities.
Speaker Mike Johnson on Saturday posted on X that the Biden administration "has betrayed the central tenet of Easter--which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
The speaker went on to say it's "outrageous and abhorrent" that Biden is "proclaiming Easter Sunday as 'Transgender Day,'" though the president was actually marking a date that has been celebrated since 2009.
ABC News reached out to Johnson's office for further comment and got no response.
Former 2024 GOP presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy echoed Johnson's attack in social media posts of his own.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, another former Republican presidential candidate, likewise sent a text to supporters -- accompanied by a donation link -- saying that Biden had "insulted Christians everywhere."
Former President Donald Trump's presidential campaign on Saturday joined the chorus of Republican critics, slamming Biden's proclamation as "blasphemous."
"We call on Joe Biden's failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only -- the resurrection of Jesus Christ," Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Trump has a history of questioning his opponents' religious beliefs.
Biden allies are also challenging the attacks.
President Joe Biden speaks at the Washoe Democratic Party Office in Reno, Nev., on March 19, 2024.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
"This is just one more instance of folks who do not know how to lead us trying to divide us, and this is the opposite of the Christian faith," Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is also a pastor in Atlanta, said on CNN on Sunday.
Another layer to the criticism of Biden this Easter weekend surrounds an egg art contest for the annual Easter Egg Roll scheduled for Monday at the White House. Trump, Johnson, Scott and Ramaswamy each claimed the administration had banned religious depictions as part of the contest.
The American Egg Board, which works to promote egg farmers, has partnered with the White House for the annual exhibits around Easter for 47 years, including during the Trump administration, a spokesperson told ABC News.
The spokesperson said the board, which was created by Congress, must follow federal guidelines, including one that prohibits them from being favorable to a religion -- language they said they've included in their promotions for years.
A copy of this year's flyer calling for submissions to the youth egg art contest lists restrictions including the promotion of discrimination, illegal drugs and firearms or "any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, or partisan political statements."
"The American Egg Board has been a supporter of the White House Easter Egg Roll for over 45 years and the guideline language referenced in recent news reports has consistently applied to the board since its founding, across administrations," the organization said in a statement.
ABC News' Lalee Ibssa and Soo Rin Kim contributed to this report.
Easter's date happened to coincide with the Transgender Day of Visibility.
ByFritz Farrow and Kendall Ross
March 31, 2024
The White House is pushing back against top Republicans' misleading criticism of President Joe Biden for issuing a proclamation in support of transgender people on the same day as Easter.
A spokesman for the president rejected the attacks from the House speaker and others that Biden's message for the Transgender Day of Visibility goes against Christianity.
"As a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement to ABC News.
"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," Bates added.
Biden, who is only America's second Catholic president and regularly attends Mass, faced mounting conservative criticism over the weekend because of a proclamation he issued on Friday honoring "the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans" for the Transgender Day of Visibility -- which occurs annually on March 31.
The date of Easter, which varies, fell on the same day this year.
Biden has issued a proclamation marking March 31 as the Transgender Day of Visibility every year since he took office in 2021.
He also issued a statement on Sunday marking Easter, saying in part that it "reminds us of the power of hope and the promise of Christ’s Resurrection. As we gather with loved ones, we remember Jesus' sacrifice. We pray for one another and cherish the blessing of the dawn of new possibilities.
Speaker Mike Johnson on Saturday posted on X that the Biden administration "has betrayed the central tenet of Easter--which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
The speaker went on to say it's "outrageous and abhorrent" that Biden is "proclaiming Easter Sunday as 'Transgender Day,'" though the president was actually marking a date that has been celebrated since 2009.
ABC News reached out to Johnson's office for further comment and got no response.
Former 2024 GOP presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy echoed Johnson's attack in social media posts of his own.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, another former Republican presidential candidate, likewise sent a text to supporters -- accompanied by a donation link -- saying that Biden had "insulted Christians everywhere."
Former President Donald Trump's presidential campaign on Saturday joined the chorus of Republican critics, slamming Biden's proclamation as "blasphemous."
"We call on Joe Biden's failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only -- the resurrection of Jesus Christ," Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Trump has a history of questioning his opponents' religious beliefs.
Biden allies are also challenging the attacks.
President Joe Biden speaks at the Washoe Democratic Party Office in Reno, Nev., on March 19, 2024.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
"This is just one more instance of folks who do not know how to lead us trying to divide us, and this is the opposite of the Christian faith," Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is also a pastor in Atlanta, said on CNN on Sunday.
Another layer to the criticism of Biden this Easter weekend surrounds an egg art contest for the annual Easter Egg Roll scheduled for Monday at the White House. Trump, Johnson, Scott and Ramaswamy each claimed the administration had banned religious depictions as part of the contest.
The American Egg Board, which works to promote egg farmers, has partnered with the White House for the annual exhibits around Easter for 47 years, including during the Trump administration, a spokesperson told ABC News.
The spokesperson said the board, which was created by Congress, must follow federal guidelines, including one that prohibits them from being favorable to a religion -- language they said they've included in their promotions for years.
A copy of this year's flyer calling for submissions to the youth egg art contest lists restrictions including the promotion of discrimination, illegal drugs and firearms or "any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, or partisan political statements."
"The American Egg Board has been a supporter of the White House Easter Egg Roll for over 45 years and the guideline language referenced in recent news reports has consistently applied to the board since its founding, across administrations," the organization said in a statement.
ABC News' Lalee Ibssa and Soo Rin Kim contributed to this report.
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