Sage Blair highlighted as live voter panel reacts to Trump’s call to ban secret teen gender transitions
President Donald Trump used Tuesday’s State of the Union to demand a ban on socially transitioning minors without parental consent and to call Democrats "crazy" for not standing — a moment that drew sharply divided reactions from a live Maslansky & Partners panel and put sage blair and her family at the center of the debate.
Live panel showed partisan split in real time
A panel assembled by Maslansky & Partners tracked 99 voters in real time — 40 Republicans, 30 Independents and 29 Democrats — with reactions plotted as colored lines (Republicans in red, Independents in yellow, Democrats in blue). Higher values on the graph represented positive reactions and lower values indicated negative ones. As Trump demanded an immediate ban, the Republican line climbed sharply into positive territory, independents ticked upward and Democrats trended downward into negative territory.
Trump singled out seated Democrats and drew applause
As he pressed the point, Trump said, "But surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will. … We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately. " The comments drew applause from Republicans in the chamber. When many Democrats remained seated, Trump pointed and said, "These people are crazy. I’m telling you. They’re crazy. " Republican reactions stayed elevated during the remarks while Democratic responses remained negative and independent voters held relatively steady.
Sage Blair in the gallery
The president called attention to sage blair, a Virginia teenager, and members of her family sat in the gallery during the address. One account names her mother as Michelle Blair; another names her mother as Michele Blair — unclear in the provided context which spelling is correct. The family has filed a 2023 lawsuit alleging Appomattox County High School staff socially transitioned Sage without telling her parents.
Details in the lawsuit and the family's allegations
The lawsuit filed by the family says Blair began identifying as male at school, that staff used male names and pronouns for her and allowed her to use male facilities without informing her parents. The family says the situation escalated after Blair ran away from home and that she later became a victim of sex trafficking. The lawsuit alleges she was kidnapped and raped in multiple states; Michele said she was kidnapped, raped and sex-trafficked across state lines.
Advocate frames the invitation as part of a national discussion
Vernadette Broyles, who represents Michele through the Child & Parental Rights Campaign, said in a press release that the invitation to the State of the Union address "highlights the national conversation on putting parental involvement and child safety first. "
The family’s 2023 lawsuit remains on the public record; it is unclear in the provided context what the next legal or public steps will be for the family. The State of the Union appearance Tuesday was the most recent confirmed public event tied to the case.
