WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday took to the U.S. Senate floor to call out Republicans’ politically-motivated attacks on transgender youth and adults and the need to protect the transgender community.

On the more than 150 laws targeting transgender people introduced nationwide since the start of 2022, Murphy said: “[T]he Trump wing of the Republican party has declared a war against transgender kids, and these children have noticed. A recent survey of transgender youth showed that half of them – 52% – had contemplated suicide over the last year. Just think about that for a second, my colleagues – half of all the kids who are transgender come to the conclusion, at some point in their young lives, that they would be better off dead than live in a world that believes they are threats to be marginalized or expunged.”

Murphy called out the faction of the Republican Party that has made attacking trans youth their top priority: “And so here’s my message to the adults with power who have decided to spend their days bullying these kids: Stop it. Grow up. So you’re not ready to accept transgender people. Fine. I hope you’ll come around someday. But these kids threaten no one. They are hurting no one.”

On the consequences of Republicans targeting trans children to score political points, Murphy said: “Being a teenager today – I know, I have one – with social media and the pandemic, it is hard enough. But imagine being a teenager who wakes up every day knowing that they aren’t the gender they were assigned by biology at birth…And then layer on top of that some of the most powerful people in the world deciding to use their power not to cure disease or end poverty or hunger, but instead use their power to target those very scared, desperate kids, and to use their power to harass, bully, and shame them. Imagine how small, how insecure, how weak a person must be to have all that power, and use it to bully children.”

“I tell you these stories because they are the consequences of adults’ behavior. Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene and their ilk, they aren’t murderers, but make no mistake – there is a direct through line from the hateful words and policies of leaders, and the misery that too many transgender, non-binary and gay kids are going through today,” Murphy added.

Murphy concluded with a message to the trans community: “I want to make sure that I finish by sending a message to transgender kids and adults that these hateful people, this movement that is growing out there, to try to target you – it’s not going to win. We are going to build a community of love and protection for you. No matter how bad things may seem right now, they’re going to get better. The world is going to get kinder. Adults are going to learn their lessons. And if you don’t have it now, as you are struggling with your identity, you will find a support structure that will nurture and support you. It’s out there for you. You should be who you are. Don’t feel like you need to hide your true self just because of these idiot adults who feel big by bullying people that are different from them. Be who you are, and know that there’s a whole lot of us who are going to work our tails off to support you, to love you, and to make sure you get a chance to thrive. Because in the long run, the bullies never win. They never do.”

A full transcript of his remarks can be found below:

“Mr. President, I’m one of the few parents of young children in the Senate, but almost every one of us here is a parent. And so you know that one of the most spectacular things your kid can do is to write you a letter.

“Sometimes – frankly, most of the time – when I’ve gotten those letters it’s because my kid wants to protest something you’ve done. I’ve gotten a few of those where my kids are so upset at a rule or a decision that we’ve made as parents that they sit down and catalogue their grievances on paper.

“Or maybe, if you’re lucky, you get a nice letter. My in-laws still have one plastered up on their wall from their youngest daughter, who wrote them a nice list when she was young about the things she appreciated.

“But those Dear Mommy or Dear Daddy letter – that’s one of the rare joys of parenthood.

“On March 6, 2018, Patricia Veerbeeck, awoke to find one of those letters for her, left by her child Eric. It was laying on the pillow of his bed. She picked it up and she read it to herself.

“’Dear Mommy,’ her child wrote. Maybe her eyes twinkled, thinking of what sweet or funny thoughts might come next.

But this is what the letter said.

“’Dear Mommy, I am sorry to do this to you, but I have killed myself by jumping off the top floor – the 12th floor – of your building, at the nearest stair exit to the elevators on that floor.

“’I felt I could no longer live my life as a lie, living as a boy instead of the girl I know I could become. I am sorry I lied to you. I was losing hope in the world and could not see my way out of the wrong body, and I decided it was time for my life to end.’

“As you might imagine, Patricia didn’t get beyond that first line. Upon reading it, she dropped the letter, and ran straight to her balcony. And below she saw the vague outline of a body and police officers surrounding it.

“I follow President Trump’s family members on social media. I do it because I know how influential they are. I know how many Americans – good, decent Americans – admire them and listen to what they say.

“And lately, the posts from Trump’s family members have just been of one theme: America should fear transgender children. The Trump family, and their network of supporters and sycophants, have decided that Eric Veerbreck and other kids like them, are the number one problem facing America today. And over the past year, this crowd has orchestrated a relentless and unceasing campaign to marginalize, demonize, and bully kids whose gender identity is different from their biological sex.

“Mr. President, this year alone, Republican state legislators across the country have introduced 150 bills to deny rights to transgender Americans.

“Today, the Alabama legislature introduced legislation that is fast tracked, from what I understand, to become law that makes it a felony, a felony, for a doctor to provide health care to a transgender child.

“In Texas, the governor directed his child welfare agency to investigate parents like Patricia, who are simply determined to support their children, if they help them secure the gender-affirming treatment that they need. Criminalizing parents of transgender children is just around the corner, in some states.

“In Congress, Trump’s allies spend more time talking about transgender kids than they spend talking about health care or taxes or education.

“Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, perhaps Trump’s best ally in the House, had a sign outside her office – calling the experience of trans people a fiction. Just to bully her hallway neighbor, Representative Marie Newman, who has a transgender daughter.

“And in the Supreme Court hearings here last month, at least one senator used their time on the national stage to suggest that the entire idea of being transgender is a left wing hoax.

“All across America, Republicans, not all Republicans, but the Trump wing of the Republican party has declared a war against transgender kids, and these children have noticed.

“A recent survey of transgender youth showed that half of them – 52% – had contemplated suicide over the last year. Just think about that for a second, my colleagues – half of all the kids who are transgender come to the conclusion, at some point in their young lives, that they would be better off dead than live in a world that believes they are threats to be marginalized or expunged.

“That’s a national crisis – and we need to talk, honestly and candidly, about what has led us to this moment.

“We need to start by acknowledging that this conversation is long overdue. This dialogue about transgender children, it may feel new, but transgender kids aren’t, transgender adults aren’t. The only difference between today, and say, fifty years ago, is that today there is space for kids and adults to be open about who they truly are.

“We are all born with a biological sex. And centuries of tightly controlled constructs about what a man should be and what a man should act like, and what a woman should be and what a woman should act like, they’ve sorted human beings into personality and professional profiles based on that gender.

“But there are many of us, and this has been the case for human history, who do not associate with the gender that biological chance ascribed to us. There are people who are assigned male at birth, who feel – in their bones – that they are female. That’s what Eric felt. That’s what Eric knew. And there are people who are assigned female at birth, but know – they just know – that they are male.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that. That process, of figuring out which gender you identify with, it poses no threat to anyone.

“But Mr. President, we do have to acknowledge how hard it is, given those centuries of gender identity and stereotypes, for some Americans to understand what a kid like Eric was going through.

“For Americans, for instance, who were born a male, and feel like a male, and are surrounded by family and friends who associate with the gender that matches the sex they were born into, the whole notion of a boy becoming a girl, or a girl becoming a boy, I get it, it can be disconcerting. It can be difficult to understand.

“But I also know that this discomfort will pass, as more Americans learn what I’ve learned. Transgender and non-binary children aren’t any different than any other kids. You might not know a transgender or non-binary kid, but trust me, you do, you know what these kids are like, because they are no different than any other children.

“My son has transgender and non-binary friends. He has non-transgender friends, but when they are all sitting around our kitchen after school, there’s no difference between them, in terms of how they act, how they talk, what they’re like, what they like, what they don’t like.

“They are kids. They are just kids.

“And so here’s my message to the adults with power who have decided to spend their days bullying these kids: Stop it. Grow up.

“So you’re not ready to accept transgender people. Fine. I hope you’ll come around someday. But these kids threaten no one. They are hurting no one.

“And while there are important conversations we need to have about how we include transgender kids fully in sports, I could walk into a room of a thousand people in my state, ask how many of them have had a child lose a sporting event to a transgender girl, and not a single hand would raise.

“‘Saving girls’ sports is not the reason why Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene and their whole political movement has made bullying transgender kids their top priority.

“No, it’s their top priority because they know hate and fear of what some people don’t understand has a habit of selling in this country. I wish that weren’t true, but it’s always been true. There is always going to be a constituency in America that will listen to an argument for why Black people or Mexicans or Muslims or gay people or transgender people, are ruining America, why we should fear them.

“It’s not true. It’s never been true. But demagogues and their movements tend not to have actual ideas, things they are for. Demagogues normally just focus on what they hate.

“Let me say it again: half of transgender children in the country have thought to themselves, at some point that they would be better off dead than to live in a world where so many people fear them. That is heartbreaking to know we are doing that, to these kids.

“Being a teenager today – I know, I have one – with social media and the pandemic, it is hard enough. But imagine being a teenager who wakes up every day knowing that they aren’t the gender they were assigned by biology at birth. Imagine keeping your feelings about that secret for years, worried, worried about what your parents or your friends will say. Imagine the anguish of a scared twelve year old or fourteen year old, sitting in bed, awake for hours each night, trying to process all of that alone, with no help. Imagine the courage it then takes to have that first conversation with a parent or friend.

“And then layer on top of that, some of the most powerful people in the world, deciding to use their power not to cure disease or end poverty or hunger, but instead use their power to target those very scared, desperate kids, and to use their power to harass, bully, and shame them.

“Imagine how small, how insecure, how weak a person must be to have all that power, and use it to bully children.

“Seth Walsh was gay, not transgender, but his experience was not much different than Eric’s. Students at his school were systematic in their targeting of him, because of his sexual orientation. They pushed him down the stairs, kicked him until he was badly bruised. They screamed at him. Called him names. No doubt these bullies took direction and inspiration from adults who paved the way, who endorsed this kind of hateful behavior.

“One day, after one of these incidents, a frightened Seth called his mom and he said, “Mom, you have to come get me right now.” His mother feel and hear the fear in his voice, so she grabbed Seth’s little brother rushed to pick him up. His mom was so supportive. That afternoon they sat and they talked. Seth took a shower to calm himself down and afterward, he asked his mom for a pen and told her he was going to go outside to play with the dogs.

“Ten minutes later, his mom went outside to continue this conversation with her son. But it was too late. Seth had hung himself from a tree. The pen he asked for was for his suicide note.

“I tell you these stories because they are the consequences of adults’ behavior. Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene and their ilk, they aren’t murderers, but make no mistake – there is a direct through line from the hateful words and policies of leaders, and the misery that too many transgender, non-binary and gay kids are going through today.

“But I’m also here to tell you that Trump and Taylor Greene, others like them, they are not the majority. And I want to make sure that I finish by sending a message to transgender kids and adults that these hateful people, this movement that is growing out there, to try to target you – it’s not going to win. We are going to build a community of love and protection for you. No matter how bad things may seem right now, they’re going to get better.

“The world is going to get kinder. Adults are going to learn their lessons. And if you don’t have it now, as you are struggling with your identity, you will find a support structure that will nurture and support you. It’s out there for you.

“You should be who you are. Don’t feel like you need to hide your true self just because of these idiot adults who feel big by bullying people that are different from them.

“Be who you are, and know that there’s a whole lot of us who are going to work our tails off to support you, to love you, and to make sure you get a chance to thrive.

“Because in the long run, the bullies never win. They never do.

“I yield the floor.”

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