Pres. Biden mourns “LGBTQI+” in Holocaust message

U.S. President Joe Biden proclaimed May 5 to May 12 the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust ahead of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust remembrance day, which begins on Sunday night.

“During Yom HaShoah and these days of remembrance, we mourn the six million Jews who were systematically targeted and murdered in the Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters in human history,” Biden stated.

“We also mourn the Roma, Sinti, Slavs, people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ people, racial minorities and political dissidents who were killed or endured abuse by the Nazis and their collaborators, as well as those who risked or lost their lives to protect others,” the U.S. president added.

It is accurate to note that the European Romani and Sinti were targeted by Nazi efforts at ethnic cleansing. Their persecutions began in 1935 when they were included in the anti-Jewish Nuremberg Laws. Historians estimate that between 250,000 and 500,000 Romani and Sinti were killed by Nazis and their collaborators—25% to over 50% of the estimate of slightly fewer than 1 million Roma in Europe at the time.

In addition, about 200,000 people with disabilities were murdered by the Nazis between 1940 and 1945.

But the president’s statement concerning “LGBTQ+” is anachronistic and inaccurate. The Nazi regime did persecute homosexual men, arresting an estimated 100,000 gay men under Paragraph 175 of the German criminal code that banned sexual relations between men and convicting about 50%. Many of these men were persecuted because of their racial identity or for anti-Nazi activities rather than for their sexual preference. While an estimated 15,000 gay men were sent to concentration camps, the primary reason for their internment was almost always their ethnic identity. Gay Aryan men were persecuted at a much lower rate and with much less severity than gay men of other ethnicities.

There are no records of persecution of lesbians in Nazi Germany as it did not violate the law.

Biden’s use of the LGBT acronym is anachronistic. The term ‘transsexual’ was not coined until 1949, ‘transgender’ not until 1971, and ‘trans’ not until 1996. At the time of the Nazi rule of Germany, the term “transgender” referred mainly to men who dressed in women’s clothing. the Nazis shut down several magazines published by transgender people, shut down the Berlin nightclubs that some transgender people worked at, and shut down the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, a sexology research institute that advocated for transgender rights. As noted above.

At least one person took offense at Biden’s revision of Holocaust history. Rod Sales tweeted. “Coming in hot for #YomHaShoahFails 2024, it’s antisemite-in-chief President Joe Biden engaging in Holocaust distortion and appropriation of the Shoah for his antisemitic intersectional DEI progressive agenda: “…We also mourn the Roma, Sinti, Slavs, people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ people, racial minorities, and political dissidents…” No low is too low. Worst. President. Ever.”

Last week, the president made his first formal remarks about ongoing anti-Israel encampments on college campuses. While he did decry antisemitism, he also warned against Islamophobia.

Biden listed many of the things he has done as a senator and as president to mark Holocaust remembrance and to combat Jew-hatred.

“As Americans, we cannot stay silent as Jews are attacked, harassed and targeted. We must also forcefully push back attempts to ignore, deny, distort or revise the history of Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust or Hamas’s murders and other atrocities committed on Oct. 7—including the appalling and unforgiveable [sic] use of rape and sexual assault to terrorize and torture Jewish women and girls,” he added.

During the remembrance week, “we mourn the lives tragically stolen in the Shoah and on Oct. 7. As we hold the Jewish community close to our hearts, we recommit to remembering so that what happened can never be erased,” Biden stated.

“Some injustices are so heinous, horrific and grievous that they cannot be buried, no matter how hard people try,” he added. “In silence, wounds deepen, but in remembrance comes healing, justice and repair.”

“Toward those aims, we must all forcefully act against antisemitism and all forms of hate-fueled violence,” Biden said. “As we do, we honor the courage, strength, and resilience of the Jewish people, who have inspired the world for generations by turning pain into purpose, healing into hope and darkness into light.”

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