Tongue Tied

Republicans talk out of both sides of their mouths and they don’t see the hypocrisy in it. They call for one thing when it is in their favor and ignore it when it is not.

Mike Pence left stammering when CNN host points out his hypocrisy on trans youth

Pence could barely put two words together before he changed the subject.

LGBTQ Nation

By Alex Bollinger

June 8, 2023

GOP presidential candidate Mike Pence could hardly respond when a CNN reporter pointed out his hypocrisy on LGBTQ+ issues. Pence argued that parental rights are paramount in one instance and then argued against parental rights when it comes to gender-affirming care.

CNN held a town hall event for Pence last night – the same kind of event that has gotten CNN criticized for not properly fact-checking the GOP presidential candidates as they speak in front of a hand-selected and very friendly audience – and he railed against gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

“We’re gonna protect kids from the radical gender ideology and say no chemical or surgical gender transition before you’re 18, period,” he said, getting applause from the conservative audience.

Host Dana Bash pushed back: “I just want to be clear on this because you are so adamant about parents’ rights.”

“Right, I am,” Pence responded.

But, but only when it is in their favor, they talk out of the other side of their mouths in the next sentence. However, they are blind to it even when pointed out to them.

“But in this particular case, parents who say, along with the doctors, that what is best for their kids, what their kids feel most comfortable with doing, is gender transition,” Bash said. “The parents should not be allowed to do that?”

Pence did not appear to have a response ready for this fairly obvious question.

“Right, look, I, I, look… The, the s- state has the obligation to see to the safety and health and well-being of the people in the state,” he said, even though Pence adamantly opposes safety measures like vaccine mandates, which do a lot more to keep people safe than focusing on transgender youth. “And I accept that. Look, yet… I, I take your point, I take your point….”

Come on spit it out! Gears start smoking and slipping I… I… I… “That does not compute, Will Robinson!” Buzzit buzzit.

Bash insisted that she wasn’t making a point, “It’s a question,” as Pence continued to stammer.

“Well, I, I, look, this… Well we have afoot in America that is a radical gender ideology that has taken hold in our schools, that has taken hold in our universities, it is afoot across the nation….” Pence responded, trying to talk about anything other than the inconvenient fact that many parents of transgender kids support their children.

They don’t see it with book bannings, that it should be the parent that decides and not the government!

They don’t see it with banning abortions, that it should be the woman who decides not the government.

They don’t see it with banning drag queens, that it should be the parent who decides to take a child to a book reading by a drag queen not the government. They do it in a “R” rated movie why not to a drag show? It is simple... it goes against the Republican talking points.

Talking point #1 "We push "parental rights" that it should be the parents who have a right in what gets taught to their child."

Talking point #2 "We have to look out for the children and not allow them to do what is medically necessary."

They just don't see that the two are mutually exclusive. You can't have it both ways!

“Parental rights” have been used in the past several years to attack LGBTQ+ equality, with anti-LGBTQ+ bills often being named after parental rights. Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law was officially named the “Parental Rights in Education” law. Anti-LGBTQ+ activists often style themselves as parents’ rights activists since they believe that parents have a right to prevent their children from knowing that LGBTQ+ people exist, and they simply assume that all parents agree with them.

They don’t see the hypocrisy in it. But then that is typical when you follow political ideology your followers are mindless automatons.

I doubt it were much that Pence when home and thought about it, "Am I doing that?"

The upcoming Republican primary may see more sensationalized stories about transgender individuals, signaling a shift in political strategy towards targeting the rights and humanity of transgender people.

They are getting a lot of mileage in attacking us.