Trump targets trans teen, pushes transphobic law, & praises anti-LGBTQ+ leader in State of the Unionhttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/02/targets-trans-teen-pushes-transphobic-law-praises-anti-lgbtq-leader-in-state-of-the-union/ 🔗Daniel Villarreal (24 Feb 2026)
During President Donald Trump's Tuesday night State of the Union address, he used a teen as a transphobic prop, urged the passage of a law that could keep millions of trans people from voting, and praised the leader of an anti-LGBTQ+ organization.
He also made numerous racist comments demonizing immigrants as deadly and fraudulent criminals while repeatedly blaming Democrats for the nation's problems, even though Republicans have had full control of the government's three branches since 2025.
During his speech, Trump pointed out Sage Blair in attendance with their mother. Blair is a Virginia high school teen who began socially transitioning at age 14 by using male pronouns and facilities at their school (allegedly without her mother's knowledge).
Blair's mother sued the school district, alleging that the mental distress caused by the school's policies and subsequently bullying from other students compelled her child to run away from home and fall victim to child sex traffickers. Virginia Republicans have since championed "Sage's Law," a bill that would require schools to forcibly out trans kids to their potentially unaccepting parents.
Trump claimed that secret transitioning of students without their parents' knowledge is "going on all over [in] numerous states," and added, "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." In reality, no states have laws separating trans children from their parents, even if the parents disagree with their transition.
