Just hours after taking office, Presdient Joe Biden signed an Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation
Critics have slammed the new order declaring that the new president is ‘erasing women‘ and imposing ‘a new glass ceiling’.
Many fear that Biden’s anti-discrimination executive order will now make it compulsory for schools to allow transgender female students to compete in girls’ sports
The Mail Online reports: It states that ‘Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.’
The order adds: ‘It is the policy of my administration to prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation’.
Biden claims that such anti-discrimination policies are ‘enshrined in the nation’s anti-discrimination laws’, and align with a Supreme Court ruling from 2020 that prohibits ‘discrimination on the basis of someone’s gender identity’.
There is now speculation that public schools will have funding pulled if they do not allow transgender female athletes to compete in girls’ sports.
Biden’s order is already dividing activists on the internet. While it has been cheered by proponents of transgender rights, others say the order could unintentionally discriminate against cis females.
Journalist Abigail Shrier wrote on Twitter: ‘On day 1, Biden unilaterally eviscerates women’s sports. Any educational institution that receives federal funding must admit biologically-male athletes to women’s teams, women’s scholarships, etc. A new glass ceiling was just placed over girls.’
Erielle Davidson of The Jewish Institute for National Security of America, wrote: ‘Sad day for women’s sports. Women must compete against biological males at the risk of injury and loss of title, thanks to a new Biden executive order. Don’t ever tell me this is ‘pro-woman.’ It’s not. It’s destructive and malicious.’
Soon after, the hashtag #BidenErasedWomen began trending on Twitter.
However, LGBT activists hit back, saying the order was simply Biden’s attempt at moving towards a more inclusive society – just as he pledged to do in his inaugural address.
‘I see #BidenErasedWomen trending so seems like a good time to remind everyone that trans people have been around in every recorded culture. Biden has simply said that he’s not going to allow people like me to be discriminated against for using female toilets, as we’ve always done,’ transgender writer Paris Lees posted.
Others claimed that criticism of Biden’s order was ‘transphobic’, and slammed the objectors as ‘trans-exclusionary radical feminists’ (otherwise known as ‘TERFs’).