A Trump campaign adviser is once again under fire after tweeting out a statement on the top health official in Pennsylvania-and deliberately misgendering her. “This guy is making decisions about your health” said Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to the campaign. The tweet also linked to a story from May, where Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine specifically asked not to be misgendered after a reporter called her “sir” several times during a press briefing on the pandemic.
NBC News asked Ellis about her deliberate “public misgendering” of Levine, and Ellis through a campaign spokesperson, called any backlash to her remark “both hilarious and tragic“. “The truth of biology shows that human beings are created immutably male and female. Yet in our post-truth society, the progressive leftists not only demand that we affirm patently false facts, but also demand we not ‘offend’ people who insist on speaking their lies, otherwise we are called insensitive bigots and required to apologize,” Ellis stated. “I won’t apologize.“
The Human Rights Campaign was quick to respond to Ellis’ transphobic remarks; “Dr. Levine illustrates character and patriotism while Ellis cannot even define those terms.”. The campaign went on to say “Despite claims of allyship, Donald Trump, Mike Pence and their staff have gone out of their way to dehumanize and attack transgender and non-binary people simply for existing. Trump and his allies have refused to acknowledge the epidemic of violence Levine said in a news conference last month that the continued transphobia directed at her perpetuates “a spirit of intolerance and discrimination” against LGBT individuals.
Jonathan Lovitz, Senior Vice President for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce plainly responded to Ellis “You’ve earned your deplorable badge. Delete your account”
You’ve earned your deplorable badge. Delete your account.
— Jonathan D. Lovitz (@jdlovitz) August 10, 2020
Levine said in a news conference last month that the continued transphobia directed at her perpetuates “a spirit of intolerance and discrimination” against LGBT individuals.