By Sam Ehlinger (they/she)
United States Rep. Nikki Budzinski declined to acknowledge the existence of genders other than men and women in a telephone townhall Tuesday.
Budzinski represents Illinois’ 13th district, which covers the majority of Champaign County.
A caller identified as George from Springfield, Illinois, said: “I saw a clip of you earlier this morning and you must have been channeling Senator Duckworth and Senator Hirono because you had these four people and you said ‘yes or no?’ to your question. And one of the executive orders that you’ve been railing about on President Trump, he said pretty early on I think, first day, there are two genders, two sexes, male or female. Do you agree, yes or no?”
Budzinski replied: “I think that, I think that –”
And George interrupted: “Yes or no?”
Budzinski replied: [Laughs] “What I would say is that, umm, this is, I just think that, umm, you know, I think that yes, there are male and female genders. Yes. Yeah.”
The Lavender asked Budzinski’s office four follow up questions via email:
- How does the Representative plan to support trans and nonbinary people given her statement that she agrees with Trump that there are only two genders?
- How should queer and nonbinary voters interpret her response?
- How does she intend to keep trans and non-binary people in her district safe from people who will be emboldened to act violently toward trans people when hearing statements like this?
- Gov. Pritzker has been stressing that Illinois is a safe place for queer people. Does the Representative disagree?
Congresswoman Budzinski provided the following statement in response: “I firmly believe that everyone deserves respect, and this commitment is reflected in my voting record. In the 118th Congress, I was proud to vote down nearly every anti-LGBTQ provision pushed by House Republicans. Because of these efforts, I received a 100 percent scorecard from the Human Rights Campaign. During my recent town hall, I did not express agreement with President Trump’s actions. In fact, I believe his actions against the LGBTQ community are deeply hurtful. I will continue to do everything in my power to protect this community from hate and stand in solidarity with them.”
In response to Budzinski’s comment, The Lavender asked if the Congresswoman believes that there are only two genders, male and female.
“The Congresswoman’s response on the townhall was that male and female are genders. She understands that while the vast majority of people identity [sic] as male or female, for some people their experience is different. She believes every American deserves to be respected and protected,” wrote Josie Lionetti, Communications Director for Budzinski, in an email reply.
What is Budzinski’s voting record on LGBTQ+ issues?
Budzinski is technically correct in that she has voted against “nearly every anti-LGBTQ provision.” But she has not voted against every anti-LGBTQ+ provision pushed by House Republicans.
As a recent example, Budzinski voted in December and celebrated her yea for the National Defense Authorization Act, which included a block to providing gender affirming care to transgender children of members of the armed forces relying on Department of Defense-provided healthcare. This was the first piece of federal anti-LGBTQ+ legislation to pass in 30 years.
Though she did vote no in January for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would block trans women from participating in women’s school athletic programs.
What do I do?
Call her office at 217-305-6991 and let her know how this made you feel.
Call the organizations who endorse her and let them know how this makes you feel!