(Headline USA) Assistant Health Secretary Rachel (né Richard) Levine, who holds the distinction of being first openly transgender four-star officer in the U.S. military, dismissed criticism of the Biden administration’s decision to celebrate the “Transgender Day of Visibility” on Easter Sunday, claiming the outrage was “manufactured.”
In an interview with LGBT publication The Advocate, Levine, who identifies as a woman, claimed it was just a coincidence that the two “holidays” fell on the same calendar day this year.
The trans community has celebrated its so-called day of visibility since 2009, and President Joe Biden has issued a proclaimation recognizing it each year since he took office.
Yet, only limited attention was paid to the proclamation outside of the LGBT community—until this year, when President Joe Biden faced severe backlash for blaspheming the holiest day in the Christian religious calendar.
Biden, who identifies as Catholic, later denied issuing the proclaimation, suggesting somone else had issued it on his behalf.
However, Levine, who is Jewish, blamed Christians for their unwillingness to share the holiday, considering Easter has no fixed date and is instead based on the lunar calendar.
“It’s just that this Sunday was Easter, which is a very important holiday and very important event, and it also just happened to be the 31st,” Levine said.
“I felt that it was faux outrage,” Levine added. “It was manufactured.”
Levine, the top adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, went on to claim that public acceptance of the transgender movement was continuing to grow, despite the recent setback.
“You know, there’s a quote from Yoda (not baby Yoda, that’s new): ‘Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering,’” Levine said, quoting from a scene in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, in which the wise Jedi master advises the future Darth Vader to keep his emotions in check.
“I think that things will get better,” Levine added—presumably not referring to the Star Wars plot. “And I think that things for transgender and nonbinary people will improve.”
Levine went on to argue that the more criticism the LGBT movement receives, the more determined activists were to force its acceptance.
“The more I’m attacked, the more it motivates me to work harder and to advocate more,” Levine said.
