On Wednesday afternoon, President Joe Biden signed a massive executive order that, according to his administration, would defend the rights of LGBT individuals.
It will also apparently accelerate the march to complete equality through a series of moves affecting many government departments.
The Equality Act
While Biden will encourage Congress to enact the Equality Act, his executive order also intends to limit the practice of so-called reparative therapy, reduce juvenile suicide, and permit the needy to seek shelters that correspond to their gender identification.
Biden also claimed credit for creating the “X” gender choice on U.S. passports and the reversal of the prohibition on transgender service personnel.
NEW: President Biden is signing a sweeping executive order to protect LGBTQ youth from Republican states targeting them— including new federal guidance for states to expand access to comprehensive health care for LGBTQ patients.
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) June 15, 2022
Biden and his aides believe the following:
“Per a fact sheet distributed to the media on Wednesday, upwards of 300 anti-LGBT bills have been passed in state legislatures over the past year. Many of them affect transgender parents and children by prohibiting access to medical care and school support.”
Javier Gomez, a Florida high schooler who led rallies against his government’s Parental Rights in Education Act, presented President Biden when he welcomed hundreds of LGBT campaigners to the White House this evening to sign the order.
After passing the bill into law, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has become a focus of criticism, claiming he cannot be canceled after gathering demonstrators during a recent address.
The expansive actions of the executive order are explained in a seven-page White House information sheet.
It directs the Department of Health and Human Services to provide states with draft policies on expanding LGBT people’s access to healthcare.
The Department of Education will be responsible for disseminating sample school policies for “reaching full inclusion” for LGBT pupils.
The Department of Health and Human Services will also promote full rights to “gender-affirming care,” establish a bill of rights for older LGBT individuals, and try to decrease the use of “conversion therapy.”
The Federal Trade Commission will investigate whether conversion therapy makes up an unfair, deceptive act or practice and may issue buyer warnings.
President Biden is signing an Executive Order Advancing Equality for LGBTQI+ Individuals, which will address "discriminatory legislative attacks against LGBTQI+ children and families," protect children from conversion therapy, and create initiatives to help LGBTQI+ foster youth.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 15, 2022
Safeguards
Concerning foster families and adoptions, the Department of Health and Human Services will be instructed to tighten nondiscrimination safeguards and develop training for child welfare staff to support LGBT adolescents.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will research “the effects of family refusal on the psychological health and long-term wellness of LGBTQI+ individuals.”
“The attorney general will establish a clearinghouse inside the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to provide LGBT youth with access to resources.
In addition, the federal government will increase its data collection on gender identity and sexual orientation.
The Department of Housing and Urban Growth will reinstate measures ensuring transgender individuals experiencing homelessness have access to emergency shelters consistent with their gender identity.
At the midpoint of Pride Month, the White House and other federal facilities in Washington, as well as U.S. embassies abroad, are displaying Pride flags. One study estimates the number of transgender youngsters has doubled since 2017.
The order emerges as the number of people who identify as LGBT skyrockets.
