Sunday, November 29, 2020

Biden wanting to undo damage Trump did to LGBTQ rights

President-Elect Joe Biden

According to the Associated Press via  Talking Points Memo, President-Elect Joe Biden is planning to repair the damage done to LGBTQ rights and equality by the Trump Administration. Two acts he may be looking into are the passage of the Equality Act and removing Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military. 

Any action Biden undertakes promises be a fight and no doubt the religious and anti-LGBTQ right will be ready to fundraise and spread lies about gays "recruiting" children, gays wanting to "imprison" or bankrupt" Christians, "men using bathrooms with little girls," or whatever horror story they work up.

Goodness knows, there is no end to the boogiemen and horror scenarios they will spew should Biden be prepared to do these things:


Appoint an array of LGBTQ people to federal government positions. There’s wide expectation that Biden will nominate an LGBTQ person to a Cabinet post, with former presidential contender Pete Buttigieg among the possibilities.

Reverse Trump administration policies carving out religious exemptions allowing discrimination against LGBTQ people by social service agencies, health care providers, adoption and foster care agencies and other entities.

 Reinstate Obama administration guidance directing public schools to allow transgender students to access bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams in accordance with their gender identity. The Trump administration revoked this guidance. 

 Allocate federal resources to help curtail violence against transgender people, particularly transgender women of color. Rights groups say at least 38 transgender or gender-nonconforming people have been killed in the U.S. this year.

 Support legislative efforts to ban so-called conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors.

 Bolster federal efforts to collect comprehensive data about LGBTQ people in the U.S. by adding questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to national surveys. 

Ensure that LGBTQ rights are a priority for U.S. foreign policy and be prepared to use pressure tactics, including sanctions, against foreign governments violating those rights.


As the article further points out, Trump's ability to create a conservative-majority SCOTUS and place conservative judges on the bench in general  could mean that any legal fight LGBTQ people have will be brutal and any victory we receive will be hard-won.