Republican Ralph Norman’s effort to hold 30-second silence for Rush Limbaugh turned down

‘The chair cannot entertain the gentleman’s request’

Republican South Carolina Representative Ralph Norman asked for 30 seconds of silence for Rush Limbaugh, the controversial conservative radio host who passed away last week after a bout with lung cancer – but was turned down.

“My request is to allow a 30-second moment of silence for the passing of Rush Limbaugh, one of the greatest radio hosts ever and make that as a formal request," Mr Norman said on the floor of the House of Representatives.

But he was told: “The chair cannot entertain the gentleman’s request.”

Mr Norman made the request as the House was considering the Equality Act which would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Limbaugh made a number of derogatory remarks against LGBT+ individuals during his long career.

On the 22 February episode of the podcast The Daily by The New York Times, reporter Jim Rutenberg said of Limbaugh: "He did something for a time, he called it the Aids Update. And that’s when he would read the latest grim news from the Aids epidemic. And he would mock it with like a song, like a Dionne Warwick song, "I’ll Never Love This Way Again,” or Gene Autry’s “Back in the Saddle Again". People were dying indiscriminately. This was a horrible moment. And in fact, that’s one of the few things in his entire career that he later apologised for."

Mr Norman's request came after several other Republicans made their feelings clear when it comes to expanding rights for LGBT+ people. Controversial Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene put up a sign outside her office saying "There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE ...Trust The Science!" after her Democratic colleague across the hall Marie Newman put up a transgender pride flag outside her office. Ms Newman has a daughter who is transgender.

The House passed the Equality Act on Thursday, although it is not expected to pass the Senate. Ms Greene previously attempted to stop the debate about the law by introducing a motion to adjourn to "give every Member of Congress time to rethink destroying Women's Rights and Women's Sports and Religious Freedom before voting for the Equality Act".

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul was blasted for his questioning of Dr Rachel Levine, President Joe Biden's nominee for assistant health secretary. Dr Levine is transgender and Mr Paul suggested during his questioning of her that transitioning was equal to genital mutilation, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.

Mr Paul said: "American culture is now normalising the idea that minors can be given hormones to prevent the biological development of their secondary sexual characteristics."

He added: "Dr Levine, you have supported both allowing minors to be given hormone blockers to prevent them from going through puberty as well as surgical destruction of a minor's genitalia. ... Do you believe minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing one's sex?"

Dr Levine said that transgender medicine is a “very complex and nuanced field with robust research and standards of care".

Chair of the Senate health committee Democrat Patty Murray later criticised Mr Paul's comments, saying: “It is really critical to me that our nominees be treated with respect and that our questions focus on their qualifications and the work ahead of us, rather than on ideological and harmful misrepresentations like those we heard from Senator Paul earlier."

Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a DC conservative think tank responded on Twitter, writing: “How about a 30 second moment of silence for the passing long ago of a responsible Republican Party, one of the greatest parties ever.”