| USA TODAY
President Biden signs 15 executive orders during the first office hours
Climate change, LGBTQ rights and the border wall are just a few items that President Joe Biden addressed during the signing of his first executive orders.
USA TODAY
The claim: Biden’s executive order says transgender female athletes should be allowed to compete against women and that it is linked to federal funding
Since President Joe Biden took office on January 20, he has issued a spate of executive orders, including one aimed at preventing discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, and on discrimination in the workplace in the federal government. prohibit.
While the move was celebrated by LGBTQ advocates, the consultation drew criticism from some conservatives on social media, with allegations that the order threatened women’s rights. Critics protest with the hashtag #BidenErasedWomen.
In a Facebook post shared on January 23, it is alleged that Biden ordered schools to allow transgender athletes to play in women’s sports.
“This is insane. A Biden executive order calls for Transgenders to be included in women’s sports,” reads a report by Ryan Fournier, founder of ‘Students for Trump’, posted on Facebook by Facebook users.
Another user shared a screenshot of a tweet of author Abigail Shrier which reads: “On day 1, Biden unilaterally takes out women’s sports. Any educational institution that receives federal funding must allow biologically male athletes to join women’s teams, women’s studies, etc. A new glass ceiling has just been placed over girls.”
Mark Chase, a spokesman for Fournier, pointed to Section 1 of the executive order, saying that educational institutions receiving federal funding should allow boys who identify themselves as girls to participate in women’s sports, and that there are administrative consequences would be if not. He said the order would build on the Bostock v. Case. Clayton of the Supreme Court “in an ambitious way.”
“Women’s sport is a protected category. It ensures fair competition, which will only be reduced if schools are forced to give biological men the right to participate in it. This executive order is a threat to the performance of women thanks to executive fiat “Fournier said in a statement to the United States today.
USA TODAY contacted Shrier and the Facebook users for comment.
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The executive order explained
The ‘Executive Order on the Prevention and Combating of Discrimination on the Grounds of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation’ calls for a broader application of the ruling of the Supreme Court, Bostock v. Clayton County, last year, which mandated that LGBTQ people be protected from gender discrimination in the workplace.
The majority opinion is: ‘It is impossible to discriminate against someone because they are homosexual or transgender, without discriminating against that individual on the basis of sex.’
The order builds on the landmark ruling and sets up federal agencies to extend protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and calls for the Supreme Court ruling to apply to Title IX, the federal law that discriminates in schools which is federally funded. .
Under ‘Bostock’s reasoning’, Title IX, the Equitable Housing Act and section 412 of the Immigration and Nationality Act prohibit “discrimination on the grounds of gender identity or sexual orientation, as long as the laws do not contain sufficient indications.”
“Every person must be treated with respect and dignity and must be able to live without fear, no matter who he or she is or who he or she loves,” reads Biden’s executive order. “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the toilet, the locker room or school sports.”
The order states that discrimination against LGBTQ people ‘overlaps with other forms of prohibited discrimination, including discrimination on the grounds of race or disability’, as set out in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The executive order does not relate to the federal funding of an educational institution to allow biological male athletes access to women’s sports teams and scholarships, the White House said in a statement to the US TODAY.
According to the order, all students, including transgender students, should be able to learn without facing gender discrimination, and as part of that, transgender women should compete according to female teams.
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Experts and lawyers weigh in
Advocates for the LGBTQ community also refute the allegations that the executive order takes away women’s rights and emphasizes that the order spells out existing laws.
Gillian Branstetter, a spokeswoman for the National Women’s Law Center, told Vox that the order was not a “radical step” and that the government in Biden “only enforces the Supreme Court ruling as it was written”.
Branstetter added that Biden’s executive order ‘is not a distance from his call for unity,’ and that it is frankly a small plate because it merely enforces the Supreme Court’s decision, just like the executive’s constitutional duty authority. ‘
Chase Strangio, deputy director of transgender justice at the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote on the ACLU’s website that Biden “certainly does not eradicate ‘women’ – whatever that means. ‘
“Through the government’s intention to follow the precedent set by the Supreme Court and federal law, the newly elected president has outlined and outlined what the law is, and unlike his predecessor, to comply with it,” Strangio said. wrote and added that federal laws are the source of legal protection for LGBTQ people, not Biden’s executive order.
According to Strangio, however, this means that the Biden government is prepared to enforce all legal protection under federal law for LGBTQ people.
“Every employer, every landlord, every healthcare provider who is considering dismissing or dismissing or denying a transgender person’s healthcare should now reflect on the fact that all three branches of the federal government have made it clear that discrimination against LGBTQ is illegal, ‘Strangio wrote.
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Transgender athletes at university and Olympic level
The executive order does not address athletics as the discrimination in ‘school sport’. Furthermore, transgender amateur athletes already have a policy that they must follow in order to compete.
According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which oversees 24 sports at more than 1,000 colleges and universities, gender reassignment surgery or legal recognition of a player’s transitional gender is not necessary for transgender players to join a team.
When using hormones, the NCAA requires one year of hormone treatment for trans female athletes before participating in a women’s team, and trans male athletes remain eligible to participate in women’s sports until the athlete begins a physical transition with testosterone.
In November 2015, the International Olympic Committee agreed that those who transition from female to male can participate in male sports without restriction.
Those who transition from male to female can compete in the female category after declaring the gender identity of women, which cannot be changed for a minimum of four years; and for at least 12 months before their first competition and thereafter during the qualifying period, demonstrate testosterone levels below a specific level.
For K-12, according to Transathlete.com, the policy differs by state and school district, with 16 states applying policies that allow the inclusion of transgender, non-binary, and gender-non-compliant students in high school athletics. There are 14 states that require medical evidence, and 10 states that have not issued practices across the country, but that allow schools to formulate their own policies on a case-by-case basis.
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Existing legal battle
Demands on the executive order follow legal and legislative action directed at transgender athletes.
Republican lawmakers in several states are pushing for legislation to ban transgender athletes from participating in sports for the gender they identify with.
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In Montana, a GOP-backed bill bans transgender students from playing on school and college sports teams for the gender they identify with, reports the Associated Press. Proponents of the bill say allowing transgender athletes to play could lead to an unfair playing field in middle and high school sports.
According to the Associated Press, a group of female runners in Connecticut – one of the states that allows transgender athletes to compete without restrictions – has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop transgender athletes in the state from participating in women’s sports. .
Our verdict: Missing context
The claim that Biden’s executive order on gender discrimination says transgender women should be allowed to compete on women’s teams, MIS CONTEXT, based on our research. The order protects against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity and stipulates that children should not be denied ‘access’ to ‘sports’. The White House said it would include transgender women playing in women’s teams. But the posts do not recognize that rules for transgender athletes already exist at the college and Olympic level, as well as in many states and school districts. Furthermore, it is false to say that any educational institution receiving federal funding should add biologically male athletes to teams.
Our sources for fact checking:
- White House, 20 January, executive order on the prevention and combating of discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation
- Cornell Law School, Bostock teen Clayton County
- Vox, January 22, “Explains Biden’s Executive Order on LGBTQ Rights and the Transphobic Setback”
- USA TODAY, June 15, “Supreme Court grants federal employment protection to gay, lesbian, transgender workers”
- Transathlete, “NCCA Policy and Best Practice Recommendations”
- NCAA Regulations Relating to Hormonal Therapy and Mixed Teams
- Transathlete, “Organization Policy, International Olympic Committee”
- Transathlete, “K-12 Policy”
- Associated Press, January 21, “Transgender Youth Accounts in US States Reflect Deep Divisions”
- Associated Press, February 12, “Girls sue transgender athletes”
- ACLU, January 21, “What Biden’s Executive Order of LGBTQ Does and Does Not Do”
- Montana House 112 Bill
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