Sage Blair Highlighted as Trump Calls Democrats 'Crazy' for Not Applauding Teen Transition Ban
sage blair and her mother sat in the gallery as President Donald Trump used their family's 2023 lawsuit to press for a ban on socially transitioning minors without parental consent, a moment that drew applause from Republicans and left Democratic members seated.
Sage Blair and her mother in the gallery
President Donald Trump called on Sage Blair, a Virginia teenager whose family filed a 2023 lawsuit alleging Appomattox County High School staff socially transitioned her without parental knowledge. One account names the mother as Michelle Blair; another lists her as Michele Blair.
Panel tracked real-time voter reactions
A live reaction panel assembled by the polling group Maslansky & Partners displayed real-time responses as colored lines on a graph: 40 Republicans (red), 30 Independents (yellow) and 29 Democrats (blue). Higher values represented positive reactions and lower values indicated negative ones. As Trump delivered his demand for a ban, the Republican line climbed sharply into positive territory, independents ticked upward, and Democrats trended downward into negative territory.
Trump's language and the chamber's response
As he urged action on the issue, 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. " He added, pointing at Democratic senators and House members who remained seated, "These people are crazy. I’m telling you. They’re crazy. " The comments drew applause from Republicans in the chamber, while Republican reactions on the live panel stayed elevated, Democratic responses remained negative, and independent voters held relatively steady.
The family's allegations in the lawsuit
The lawsuit alleges that Blair began identifying as male at school, where staff used male names and pronouns and allowed her to use male facilities without informing her parents. The family alleges the situation escalated after Blair ran away; one account states she was kidnapped and raped in multiple states, while another says that after she ran away she was kidnapped, raped and sex-trafficked across state lines. Trump said Blair was 14 when school officials sought to socially transition her "to a new gender, " in remarks that highlighted the case during his address.
Advocates frame the invitation as a national conversation
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 invitation brought the family from Appomattox, Va., to the State of the Union speech in Washington, D. C., where they sat in the gallery while the president highlighted their case.
Their appearance at the State of the Union underscored the issue in front of lawmakers and a live reaction panel; the family’s 2023 lawsuit against multiple Appomattox County Schools officials remains the public record tied to the case.
