A transgender politician claimed Monday that President Donald Trump initiated a “public terrorism campaign” with an executive order on biological sex.
Trump signed an executive order declaring the government’s recognition of the “biological reality of sex” and defining terms like male, female, man, woman, boy and girl within hours of taking the oath of office Jan. 20. Democratic State Rep. Leigh Finke of Minnesota, a male who identifies as a female, told “CNN Newsroom” host Pamela Brown that Trump’s order resulted in “a very hard week.”
“So since Donald Trump re-entered office, has your experience changed, especially in the wake of some of these executive orders you alluded to last week?” Brown asked Finke. “He rolled back protections for transgender people, such as segregating federal prisons by sex assigned at birth and only recognizing two sexes saying that they’re not changeable. How has that impacted you?”
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“It has impacted me personally, as I think it has all trans people in this country, because these are not executive orders that change the laws of the United States,” Finke said. “They are intended to create a public terrorism campaign against our community and of course, I have felt that as a public facing advocate for trans rights in Minnesota and across the country.”
Finke received a “Children’s Health Hero” award from Minnesota Children’s Hospital after authoring HF146, the “trans refuge” legislation for child sex change procedures, according to a May 2023 release from the medical center. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who was his party’s nominee for vice president in 2024, signed the legislation into law April 27, 2023.
“The intention of this is not to change the law immediately, because he simply cannot do that, the intention of this is to create panic, to get media to repeat all of the dangers that we face over and over to make sure that people think twice about participating in the public space,” Finke continued. “And — and as a leader in the trans community, I will not be pushed out and I will continue to advocate. And — and as a result of that, I would say that I have had a very hard week.”
The Daily Caller News Foundation obtained footage from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s September 2022 Global Education Institute and over 100 pages of documents in May. The video and documents included some members of the group questioning the organization’s “Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8,” which can be utilized by medical providers when determining treatments in the U.S.
Today I ran into Minnesota State Rep Leigh Finke, who’s played an instrumental role in passing some of the most radical pro pediatric sex-change laws in the nation.
Finke didn’t want to answer my questions but promised an interview in future, which I look forward to! pic.twitter.com/K6NEqAINtD
— Meg Brock (@MegEBrock) December 4, 2024
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States v. Skrmetti, a case centered on a challenge to Tennessee’s law prohibiting child sex change procedures in December.
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