The decree is designed to counter the efforts of Republican politicians such as Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, who has pushed for a measure – known by some as the Do Not Say Homosexual Act – to bar teachers from providing identity instruction. or sexual orientation. Other laws passed in conservative states include bans on trans girls competing in high school sports and efforts to ban gender-based care. White House officials called the new laws “anti-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 is directly aimed at so – called conversion therapy, a discredited treatment in which doctors falsely claim that they can adjust a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation to treatment. At a ceremony in the East Room full of LGBTQ supporters, Biden said he was moved to take action to prevent what he called “hate attacks” by Republican governors and lawmakers across the country.
To be transgender in America
“My order will use all the power of the federal government to prevent inhumane conversion therapy practices,” Biden said, to the applause of his supporters. “This is the first time the federal government has led a coordinated response to this dangerously discredited practice.” In the executive order, the president instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of State to lead an effort to limit the exposure of American youth to the process and to try to end it completely internationally. The mandate will also direct the Federal Trade Commission to determine whether conversion therapy is tantamount to a deceptive act that should be worth warning consumers about by the organization. The decree will also seek to expand access to suicide prevention and mental health resources for LGBTQ people, White House officials said. For 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 government “look like America” by appointing members of the LGBTQ community to his staff and cabinet. He kept that promise by choosing Pete Buttigieg, an openly gay man, as transportation secretary and choosing Karine Jean-Pierre to be the first openly gay, black woman to serve as his press secretary. But Biden also promised to take concrete steps as president to promote equality. On the first day of his term, he signed an executive order directing federal agencies to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in health care, education, housing, employment and more. The president’s announcement of a new executive order comes as the White House celebrates Pride Month. In a statement issued Wednesday, Biden reiterated what he had said a year ago during a similar event: “Pride is back in the White House.” However, White House officials said the decision to pass the executive order was also prompted by the growing number of anti-LGBTQ laws being passed by Republican legislatures and signed into law by Republican governors. Mr. Biden called it “the ultra-MAGA agenda attacking our families and our freedoms,” referring to the slogan “Make America Great Again” by former President Donald J. Trump made him popular during his first candidacy in 2016. In his remarks, Mr. Biden lamented the proliferation of efforts to restrict or remove the rights of LGBTQ people. He said there was still a need to resist anti-LGBTQ sentiment, despite the Supreme Court ruling 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. “There is still a lot to do,” he said. He noted that “there are 300 discriminatory bills in states across this country – in Texas – that knock on front doors to harass, investigate parents who raise trans children. In Florida, chasing Mickey Mouse, for God’s sake. “ The crowd laughed at the president’s Disney report. But Biden closed his remarks with a stern warning about the country’s ideological divide and the political struggle that he says will remain in the coming years. “We are in a battle for the very soul of this nation,” he said. “And this is not an exaggeration. We are in a battle for the soul of the nation. “Well, I’m looking around this room here, and all of you here today, it’s a battle I know we’re going to win.” He slapped his fist on the podium: “We will win.”
