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Politicians and media personalities aren't "talking about what people are worried about" enough, according to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.
Andy Beshear's message to other politicians? Stop fixating on the LGBTQ+ community and focus on the issues actually impacting people.
The Democratic governor of Kentucky appeared on CNN’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan Sunday, where he was asked about other Democrats' recent push to abandon transgender people in order to supposedly win political favor. Beshear noted that he vetoed a major anti-LGBTQ+ bill as a Democrat in a red state during an election year and still won.
“I voted down one of the nastiest anti-LGBTQ+ bills that my state had ever seen, in my election year. But I did two things," Beshear said. “Number one: I talked about why. That’s my faith, where I’m taught that all children are children of God, and I wanted to stick up for children [who] were being picked on."
“But the second thing: Voters in my state knew the very next day, I was going to be working on jobs," he continued. "I was going to be opening a new health clinic, first hospital in our largest African American neighborhood in 150 years, we just cut the ribbon on. We’ve created two pediatric autism centers in Appalachia, so that people don’t have to drive two hours.”
Beshear vetoed a bill in 2023 that sought to ban gender-affirming care for minors and public school instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity at all grade levels, as well as forcing the outing of LGBTQ+ students to their guardians. Kentucky lawmakers still pushed through the bill after overriding Beshear's veto.
Beshear also vetoed a bill in 2022 barring transgender girls and women from competing with cisgender females in school sports. Republicans overrode that, too, though Beshear was able to pass in September an executive order banning the dangerous and discredited practice of so-called "conversion therapy," which has not been overridden.
"Remember, if we’re talking about this issue of the day, and then we're talking about what Donald Trump said last night, and then we’re talking about jobs, we’re only spending a third of the time talking about what people are worried about, and what impacts their life the most," Beshear concluded.
