President Joe Biden said this week that actions taken by Florida and other states to protect children from "gender-affirming care" treatments, such as puberty blockers and surgery, were actually "cruel" toward transgender children and "close to sinful" on the part of the states, TheBlaze reported.

That assertion followed the president's reiteration of his supposed long-standing support for same-sex marriage during an interview with left-leaning Hollywood actor Kal Penn.

Biden says same-sex marriage is "simple" and just about "love"

Penn, who is guest-hosting Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" this week, aired on Monday his recent interview with President Biden at the White House, and at one point asked about his "evolution" on same-sex marriage and what, if anything, the federal government could do to protect "trans kids" from the "regressive state laws" that were being enacted in numerous states across the country.

Biden first shared a dubious tale he has often told before about seeing two men kiss for the first time while he was a high school student and how his dad had dismissed the incident as no big deal and simply a display of their love for each other.

"It's that simple," the president asserted. "It doesn't matter whether it's same-sex or heterosexual couples. They should be able to be married. What is the problem?"

Florida's actions "cruel" and "close to sinful"

However, "Transgender kids is a really harder thing," Biden said. "What's going on in Florida is, as my mother would say, close to sinful. I mean, it's just terrible what they're doing."

"It's not like, you know, a kid wakes up one morning and says, 'You know, I've decided I want to become a man or I want to become a woman, or I want to change,'" he continued. "I mean, what are they thinking about here?"

"They're human beings. They love; they have feelings; they have inclinations that are ... it just, to me, is, I don't know, it's cruel," Biden said.

As for what the federal government could do to protect "trans kids," the president added, "The way we do it is we make sure we pass legislation like we passed on same-sex marriage. You mess with that, you're breaking the law, and you're going to be held accountable."

State medical board bans "gender-affirming care" for minors

Although President Biden did not specify why he singled out Florida for criticism, it is quite likely that he was referencing the recently confirmed state ban on "gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth" that goes into effect on March 16, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The prohibition on the prescribing of puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and sex-change operations for minors under the age of 18 was imposed by the Florida Board of Medicine -- though an exception was made for minors already receiving such treatment -- and doctors who violate that prohibition could face disciplinary actions to include fines and the revocation of their license.

The outlet further reported that lawmakers within Florida's GOP-controlled state legislature have filed bills that would codify the state medical board's new prohibition as state law.

Meanwhile, the Catholic News Agency reported that the stated position of the supposedly devout Catholic president in support of the transgenderism ideology -- not to mention same-sex marriage and abortion -- places Biden at odds with the Vatican and its firmly held opposition and rejection of such beliefs and practices.