Bernie Sanders Backs NYC Candidate Who Wants a Trans Bill of Rights on Your Dime

There’s something almost refreshing about Claire Valdez’s bluntness. The New York state assemblymember running for Congress doesn’t mince words about what she wants. Taxpayer-funded sex changes for everyone. A Trans Bill of Rights. Medicare for All that includes what she calls gender-affirming care. She laid it all out during a Twitch interview last Friday, and when people noticed, she didn’t backpedal. She doubled down with a single word: “Correct.”

This is where we are now. A candidate backed by Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Socialists of America thinks your tax dollars should fund elective procedures while calling her own party “absolute cowards” for not embracing this vision with sufficient enthusiasm. She’s running in New York’s 7th congressional district, and she’s got the endorsement of Zohran Mamdani, the socialist New York City mayor who himself proposed spending 65 million dollars on sex changes for minors. Let that sink in for a moment.

Valdez framed her position as a matter of principle. According to her logic, if we start saying healthcare isn’t for certain groups, then fascists win. It’s a curious argument. Since when did questioning whether taxpayers should fund voluntary cosmetic procedures become fascism? The word has lost all meaning in these circles. It’s just a cudgel now, something you swing at anyone who disagrees with your spending priorities.

The conservative position here isn’t complicated. Individual liberty means you’re free to make choices about your own body. Limited government means those choices aren’t my financial responsibility. If you want a procedure, save for it. Get insurance that covers it. Start a fundraiser. But don’t reach into my wallet and call it a human right.

You know what’s actually fascinating? The interviewer Valdez chose for this conversation was reportedly suspended from Twitch for calling Jews a “demonic ethnicity.” That’s the platform she selected to broadcast her vision for America’s healthcare system. The optics alone should concern anyone paying attention, but apparently ideological purity matters more than basic judgment these days.

Democrats find themselves in an interesting bind. Valdez explicitly called them cowards for distancing themselves from trans activism, and she’s not entirely wrong about the internal party dynamics. Progressive activists demand total allegiance to increasingly extreme positions while moderate Democrats watch their polling numbers crater in swing districts. It’s a purity spiral, and it’s eating the party from within.

The Trans Bill of Rights she’s proposing would enshrine these principles into law, making them nearly impossible to challenge or modify regardless of cost, medical evidence, or public opinion. That’s the goal. Lock it in permanently so future generations can’t revisit the question even as our understanding evolves. It’s the opposite of the conservative approach, which values prudence and the ability to course-correct when policies don’t work.

Valdez is running against Antonio Reynoso in the Democratic primary. New York’s 7th district leans heavily Democratic, so whoever wins that primary likely wins the seat. This isn’t some fringe candidate with no shot. She’s got major backing from the socialist wing of the party, and that wing has been gaining ground for years now.

The free market would handle this differently. Insurance companies would assess risk and cost, employers would offer different benefit packages, and individuals would choose coverage that matches their priorities and budgets. Some plans would include these procedures, others wouldn’t. That’s called choice. That’s called freedom. Instead, Valdez wants a one-size-fits-all government program that forces everyone to subsidize everything regardless of personal beliefs or financial capacity.

Traditional principles suggest we should help the genuinely vulnerable while encouraging self-reliance where possible. Nothing about Valdez’s vision reflects that balance. It’s maximalist government expansion wrapped in the language of rights and justice. And if you object, well, you’re helping the fascists apparently.

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