NOTE: To give clarification on this topic, a disclaimer will be made that the opinions shared in this opinion-editorial are not pertaining to anybody at Waynesburg University specifically with the exclusion of the author.

 For those who are familiar with the holiday of Easter, and for those who celebrate it as it was intended, the origins date back to the ministry of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who over the course of three years, shared the testimony He was sent on earth to share by God, the Father. With that testimony came endless proverbs, miracles performed and prophecies fulfilled. After entering Jerusalem to accept the fate He was destined to face, he faced trial and beatings that, even for the time, were beyond barbaric, was hung on the cross and died for the sins of mankind. Three days later, Christ would rise from the grave, as it is told in the New International Version version of the Gospel of Matthew 28:6, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.”

     This is how Easter began, by celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, and for those who share the faith, have done so for over two millennia. This was up until this year, as current President Joe Biden made a statement that drew the attention of the holiday elsewhere.

     According to whitehouse.gov in an official statement by the President, he is quoted as saying, “On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect union where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives.” For context, this was stated on the same day as Easter, directly attributing the holiday as the aforementioned, “Transgender Day of Visibility.”

     For those who are familiar with scripture, it is stated on dozens of occasions by many of the prophets, as well as Christ’s disciples speaking out against homosexuality, or intimate acts that go beyond the unification of a man and a woman through marriage.

     The ESV translation states in Leviticus 18:22 that, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Less than two chapters later in 21:13, it states, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” Romans 1:26-27 states, “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. ”

     There are many more examples of this in Genesis, Jude, Mark, 1 Corinthians and other books of the Bible. However, this statement from Biden still garnered support from the demographic it was intended for.

     Corinne Goodwin, who serves as the executive director of the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project, mentioned her and her group’s appreciation for the support that she and their community are receiving.

     “We are pleased that the President chose to honor both Easter and TDOV on the 31, of this year as people can celebrate either or both events as they feel is appropriate for them as individuals,” Goodwin said, while making note of Easter and TDOV just happening to fall on the same day. “The International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) has been celebrated on March 31, every year since 2010.  The date of Easter, on the other hand, changes every year and falls on the Sunday of the first full moon on or after the spring equinox.”

     Regardless of the coincidence that occurred this year, for a self-professed Catholic and, according to the Irish Times website irishtimes.com in an article published by Patsy McGarry on April 12, 2023, Biden states that his faith is a large part of his political ideology.

     To go along with that, according to an article written by Kendell Tietz on March 29, 2024, for the New York Times nypost.com, which reported that religious-themed designs were banned from the White House Easter egg art contest, with the article noting that the flyer for the contest stated the submission must not include “any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, or partisan political statements.” 

     With all of that said, there cannot be an excuse made for an individual who professes to be a man of faith and is simply recognizing both holidays that coincided on the same day while going out of his way to verbally acknowledge one over the other, as well as subjugate any outpouring of passion through their faith in something as harmless as an art contest. It seems that all of this is to play into the demographic he knows will support him, being the LGBTQ+ community, and will continue to support them as the national election and possible rematch between Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, could occur again.