New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is actually more unpopular in his own city than President Trump, now endorses the use of public funds for gender reassignment surgeries.
“Absolutely. We have to respect everyone’s medical needs,” the mayor told a Daily Caller reporter during a Pride event in New York City. De Blasio was asked specifically if he believes “Medicare for all,” which he supports, should cover gender reassignment operations.
“If someone needs a surgery to be full and to live their life fully — the idea is a healthcare system that actually serves everyone to the fullest, not a healthcare system that rations and causes people to struggle to get just a little healthcare,” the mayor said.
.@BilldeBlasio tells me gender reassignment surgery should be paid for by Medicare for All #NYCPrideMarch pic.twitter.com/7fC2NbQm9A
— Zak Hudak (@cbszak) June 30, 2019
The public is still “fundamentally divided over whether it’s possible for someone to be a gender different from the sex they were assigned at birth,” according to the Pew Research Center. But de Blasio is not even the only 2020 Democrat to take a stab at cashing in on the transgender issue.
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro was asked at the first Democratic primary debate whether his support for “some version of a government healthcare option” would extend to also cover abortion. Castro answered in the affirmative, but added that he especially wanted to protect “the right to choose” for those who are “trans female,” i.e., biological men who identify as female.
Like de Blasio, Castro is getting in on the ground floor by pandering on such a niche cultural issue. It’s just the beginning of what could be a very long primary season.
