WASHINGTON – President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at protecting LGBTQ people from a cascade of laws in conservative states that are increasingly targeting the rights of gays, lesbians, transgender youth and others.
The order is designed to counter the efforts of Republican politicians such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who passed a measure called “Don’t say gay” by some, banning teachers from instructing on gender identity or sexual orientation.
Other laws passed in conservative states include bans on transgender girls from competing in high school sports and efforts to ban gender-based care. White House officials called the new laws “non-American” and said they were designed to discriminate against families and children based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Mr. Biden’s executive order has a direct purpose for so-called conversion therapy, a discredited therapy in which doctors falsely claim that they can correct a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation with treatment.
At a ceremony in the East Hall full of LGBTQ supporters, Mr. Biden said he was pushed to take action to prevent what he called “hate attacks” by republican governors and lawmakers across the country.
To be transsexual in America
“My order will use all the power of the federal government to prevent inhumane practices of conversion therapy,” Mr Biden said, to loud applause from his supporters. “This is the first time the federal government has led a coordinated response against this dangerously discredited practice.
In the executive order, the president instructed the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of State to lead efforts to limit exposure to American youth and seek to end it entirely internationally. The order will also direct the Federal Trade Commission to determine whether conversion therapy is a fraudulent act that should deserve warnings from users of the agency.
The order will also seek to expand access to suicide prevention and mental health resources for LGBTQ people, White House officials said.
For Mr Biden, the executive order is another step towards fulfilling the promises he made to the LGBTQ community during his 2020 presidential campaign.
At the time, he promised to make his administration “look like America” by appointing members of the LGBTQ community to his staff and cabinet. He fulfilled this promise by electing Pete Boutigeig, an openly gay man, as transport secretary and choosing Karin Jean-Pierre as the first openly gay, black woman to serve as his press secretary.
But Mr Biden also promised to take concrete action as president to promote equality. On his first day in office, he signed an executive order ordering federal agencies to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity when it comes to health care, education, housing, employment and more.
The president’s announcement of a new executive order comes as the White House celebrates a month of pride. Speaking Wednesday, Mr Biden reiterated what he had said a year ago at an event like this: “Pride is back in the White House.”
But White House officials said the decision to issue the enforcement order was also motivated by a growing number of anti-LGBTQ laws passed by state legislatures and signed by state governors.
Mr Biden called it the “ultra-MAGA agenda attacking families and our freedoms”, referring to the slogan “Make America great again” by former President Donald J. Trump promoted during his first candidate for the post in 2016.
In his speech, Mr. Biden complained about the spread of attempts to restrict or deprive LGBTQ people of their rights. He said he still needed to fight anti-LGBT sentiment, despite the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage in 2015.
“No one knows better than the people in this room. We still have a lot of work to do. Much more to do, “he said. He noted that there are “300 discriminatory bills introduced in states across the country – in Texas, knocking on front doors for harassment, investigating parents who raise transgender children. In Florida, following Mickey Mouse, for God’s sake.
The crowd laughed at the recommendation of the Disney president. But Mr Biden ended his speech with a serious warning of the country’s ideological division and political struggle, which he said will continue in the coming years.
“We are fighting for the very soul of this nation,” he said. “And this is not hyperbole. We are in a battle for the soul of the nation. Well, I’m looking at this room here and all of you here today, it’s a battle I know we’re going to win. “
He slammed his fist on the podium: “We will win.”
Add Comment