Why This Republican Is Breaking Ranks With House Colleagues to Advocate for Transgender Rights
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Flordia is breaking ranks with her House colleagues.
— -- As the national debate continues over bathroom access for transgender people, one Republican congresswoman is taking a public stand with her family to advocate for transgender equality.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, along with her husband and transgender son, Rodrigo, have filmed a series of public service announcements with a Florida advocacy group to share their own experience.
"We loved him as Amanda, and now as Rodrigo," she says of her transgender son in the video. "We had a lot of questions. But as parents, we love and accept our children."
The 30-second spot is titled "Family Is Everything," and a version in Spanish will air on Telemundo, Univision and several local networks in South Florida.
SAVE, the South Florida advocacy group behind the public service announcement, is looking into advertising -- along with 60-second versions in English and Spanish -- on Facebook and Google as well.
Ros-Lehtinen, who rarely splits with her party on key issues, has nevertheless been an outspoken GOP supporter of gay and transgender rights. In 2013, she was one of roughly 100 Republicans to sign onto an amicus brief before the Supreme Court supporting gay marriage.
The Florida Republican, along with Rep. Mike Honda, D-California, who has a transgender granddaughter, will be honored later this week for her advocacy by the National Center for Transgender Equality.
In recent weeks, Republicans and Democrats have sparred over transgender rights after North Carolina's Republican governor signed a bill into law that requires many public bathrooms only be open to people based on their "biological sex." Since then, the Tar Heel State and Justice Department have sued each other over the law, which critics argue violates the Civil Rights Act.
Last week, President Obama issued a federal directive instructing public schools to allow transgender students to use bathroom according to their gender identity. The directive came under sharp criticism from Republicans in Washington and across the country.
An aide to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, said last week that the Wisconsin Republican "believes this is a state and local issue and the federal government should respect that."
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