Even though she no longer holds a prominent position in the Democratic Party, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is still attacking Republicans all across the country.
Recently, she told The Advocate – an LGBTQ news site – that Republicans who are pursuing laws focused on transgender issues are “losers.”
On Monday, the site published what it calls an “edited and condensed version” of the conversation it had with Pelosi. In it, the author says that “so many members of our community are scared right now given all the hateful legislation in state Houses all over the country, and the dangerous rhetoric by Republicans.”
Pelosi responded quickly and directly by saying:
“Here’s what I think. I think they’re losers. They’re losers.
“They’re losing on guns … We still don’t have the legislation we want, but the public is not really with them with all these mass shootings going on. People have had enough. Young people are taking that issue on more and more each day. They’re growing more tired about all the inaction.
“They’re losing on women’s right to choose, which is a losing issue for them and was during the last midterm election.”
Pelosi was then asked what Republicans actually do have if they don’t have any of those things she listed.
She responded that Republicans have decided to “turn to the trans and drag communities because they think that that has some salience. I don’t know, does anybody really think that the drag issue is a threat? Of course not, so they’re going to lose on that, too.”
In recent months, many states led by Republicans have implemented new policies or laws that prohibit any treatment for a minor related to changing their gender. At the same time, they’ve passed new laws that prohibit transgender athletes from participating in female sports, and that prevent any minor from attending a drag performance.
Just last month, the GOP-led House passed a bill that would prevent any male athlete who identifies as a female from competing on a women’s or girls’ sports team at their school. The bill targets all educational institutions that are funded at least in part by the federal government.
It’s unlikely that the bill will move much further, though, as Democrats are in control of the Senate and the White House.
The author of The Advocate article said it was “frightening” what Republicans are doing recently with all this action. Pelosi – who has appeared on the TV show “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in the past – agreed, saying:
“It is frightening. Because it’s about hate. When we did the hate crimes legislation, now this was a number of years ago, and we had the majority, we couldn’t get the bills to come to the floor, and to be able to vote on it on the floor.
“So, people came to me and said, ‘If you take out trans, you can pass the bill in one minute.’ I said, ‘If we take out trans, we’re not passing the bill, because I’m not taking out trans. That’s just the way it is.’”
