Just two days after being named Joe Biden‘s vice-presidential running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris is facing scrutiny over her past transgressions. As Harris took the stage for the first time as running mates at an event in Wilmington, Delaware Tuesday, the American people took to Twitter to criticize her past stand against the transgender community.
According to a September 2019 report from the Advocate, Harris, a Democratic senator from California who has a history of support for marriage equality and who led a charge to abolish gay and trans “panic” defenses, denied gender affirmation surgery to transgender inmates during her tenure as California’s Attorney General. Harris had addressed this during the LGBTQ Presidential Forum in 2019, stating that she “had clients, and one of them was the California Department of Corrections,” which had that policy. She explained that she worked “behind the scenes, I got them to change the policy.”
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Still, some people are taking issue with this fact now that she has been announced as a member of the Democratic ticket. While many have expressed their excitement at Harris being the vice presidential nominee, marking the first Black woman to hold that spot, others are not letting more controversial aspects of her nomination slide, holding her accountable for her past actions. Keep scrolling to see what social media is saying.
kamala harris denied trans inmates gender-affirming surgery & forced trans-women into male prisons. kamala harris strongly opposed a ballot measure to end sex worker arrests. kamala harris helped shut down backpage. kamala harris raised convictions for drug-related crimes by 18%
— 🌷k o r a 🌷 (@oatmilkmom) August 11, 2020
do you think kamala harris effectively utilized girl power when she jailed black mothers for minor drug and truancy charges and denied healthcare to trans prisoners
— hattie (@thearrchers) August 11, 2020
Hey Kamala Harris is a dirty fuckin cop who put trans women in male prisons (resulting in murder), denied all trans inmates gender affirming surgeries, over 1500 marijuana arrests, and withheld evidence to free a man on death row.
— Olivia 📸 📽 (@oliviawildin) August 11, 2020
Also voted yes on SESTA FOSTA
kamala harris? the cop who denied trans prisoners healthcare?
— kai ☭ (@kaiasherrr) August 11, 2020
Reminder Kamala put trans women in men’s prisons 🙂
— Emberflux ❀ They/Them ✿ (@Emberflux) August 11, 2020
Kamala Harris not allowing trans inmates to transition is a cruel and unusual punishment.
— Theo✡︎🏳️🌈 (@jewish_activist) August 11, 2020
Kamala Harris, the prosecutor who locked parents up for truancy. The prosecutor who denied an incarcerated trans women surgery. Great choice Joe really, especially coming off the heels of the last couple months of protests and everything they encompass https://t.co/q7c0z6wQtP
— lens (@notbalin) August 11, 2020
I stopped paying attention to Kamala when I found out she was a prosecutor who put Trans Women in mens prisons. Also she denied medical care to Trans inmates.
— Andé (@HeyImAnde) August 12, 2020
Kamala Harris publicly argued in a court of law that trans women do not have agency over their bodies and that the state can override our agency when it comes to healthcare https://t.co/9rA8GwjW7P
— the Mae who would be queen 🌺🏳️⚧️ (@ukleghoul) August 11, 2020
Harm reduction to the polls but I really hope Kamala Harris addresses how her actions and policies have harmfully effected LGBTQ+ people specifically our trans siblings these next few months. Op-ed by @chasestrangio. https://t.co/eIrhZOGrvq
— Jason Rosenberg (@mynameisjro) August 11, 2020
for most trans women being put into a men’s prison is their worst possible nightmare and kamala harris did exactly that
— katyusha (@computergender) August 11, 2020
kamala harris put trans women in male prisons and denied them healthcare i did not forget
— j (@fckjenin) August 11, 2020
if you like kamala harris, I’m just gonna assume you either haven’t looked into her past at all, don’t care to, or did and don’t care about trans and incarcerated people
— erin (@myIovescooI) August 11, 2020
do you think kamala harris had girl power? do you think she effectively utilized girl power by throwing a trans woman into a mens prison and denying her an essential surgery
— ✨ audrey ✨ (@audstweets) August 12, 2020
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