Sage Blair: sage blair’s story used in State of the Union attack on trans kids
President Donald Trump used the story of Virginia teen sage blair during his State of the Union, prompting Democrats to stay seated and Republican members of Congress to rise in a standing ovation. The remarks, including demands that "We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately, " focused attention on parental notification, school policies and broader anti-trans measures as midterm elections approach.
Democrats stayed seated
Near the start of his lengthy and lie-drenched State of the Union speech, President Donald Trump pointed to Democratic members of Congress and exclaimed, "These people are crazy! I’m telling ya — they’re crazy. " Those Democrats refused to stand and applaud when Trump called for a nationwide ban on what he framed as the ability for trans kids to exist in public. Republican members of Congress — described in the context as supporters of industrial-scale family separations — rose and gave a standing ovation.
Trump’s language and quotes
The president went beyond calls to restrict gender-affirming care, saying, "We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately, " and further insisting, "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. " The context noted that the administration has a standing policy of ripping children from their parents’ arms. The speech framed broader measures that would affect social transition in schools as targets for new bans.
Sage Blair as guest
On Tuesday the president’s vehicle for attacking trans kids was the story of Virginia teen Sage Blair, identified as a student at Liberty University. Both Sage and her mother Michele attended the State of the Union as the president’s special guests. Local coverage noted the pair are Appomattox locals and were invited to the address in Washington, D. C., as guests.
Legal claims and lawsuit
In 2023 Michele filed a lawsuit against multiple Appomattox County Schools officials, and related coverage states Michele is suing the Appomattox County School Board. Michele has accused members of the school district of failing to disclose to the family that Sage was identifying as male; she says that failure contributed to Sage's decision to run away. Michele has said that after Sage ran away, she was kidnapped, raped and sex-trafficked across state lines.
Policy implications and reactions
The president’s invocation of Sage’s story was tied to proposed Virginia legislation that would require schools to notify parents if a student identifies with a gender other than their sex as assigned at birth and would require parental consent for a student to use a new name or pronoun in school. Critics described such a law as effectively mandating forced outing and warned it would put thousands of trans kids at risk. The broader suite of measures cited includes health care bans, school sports bans, bathroom bans, bans on obtaining correct identification, and bans on socially transitioning at school; these policies were characterized as astroturfed and collectively making it impossible to safely live as a trans kid and flourish into a trans adult.
Observers noted that gender-affirming health care for trans youth is already banned or restricted in at least 27 states. The context also emphasized that Republican claims to parental rights are weakened where the same politicians are pushing laws to prosecute parents as child abusers if they support their children transitioning. Democratic leaders were described as having failed to robustly oppose these eliminationist efforts and as repeatedly ceding rhetorical ground to the anti-trans right. With midterm elections approaching, the context suggested Trump will escalate these attacks on trans kids.
Advocates’ statement
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. "
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Closing: The sequence of events in the State of the Union — the president’s remarks and quotes, Democrats staying seated, Republican standing ovation, the presence of Sage and Michele Blair as guests, Michele’s 2023 lawsuit and her account of what happened after Sage ran away — remain central to the debate over parental notification, school policy and a suite of proposed anti-trans measures as the country moves toward the midterm elections.
