Story highlights Mike Huckabee made crass comments that were insulting to transgender people, Sally Kohn says

She says political figures should either know transgender issues better or keep their mouths shut

Sally Kohn is an activist, columnist and television commentator. Follow her on Twitter: @sallykohn. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) Apparently, Caitlyn Jenner is a Republican. But maybe not for long, especially if Mike Huckabee keeps opening his mouth.

In comments this past February that were made more widely available this week, the former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate said, "I wish that someone told me that when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE."

Huckabee went on, "I'm pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, 'Coach, I think I'd rather shower with the girls today.' "

Sally Kohn

Huckabee's comments are not only crass but insulting. Even if he wants to dismiss the basic dignity and rights of transgender Americans, he could at least get his facts straight: Gender identity has nothing to do with sexual orientation.

Is Huckabee aware that transgender youths are subject to intense levels of bullying and harassment in school and that more than half of these kids who were bullied in school have attempted suicide ? Does Huckabee realize that 13 transgender women were murdered in 2014 alone? Does he know that transgender Americans experience poverty at four times the national average , due to employment discrimination and the costs associated with gender transition, combined with a lack of health care coverage? Does Huckabee think it's fun to belittle these people for the sake of juvenile humor?

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