Since his 2021 inauguration, President Joe Biden has already begun a string of executive orders by dismantling many of Donald Trump’s policies and actions surrounding topics like the LGBTQ community, abortion, border wall construction and deportation. Recently, Biden has been facing severe backlash over an order that allows transgender athletes to play in women’s sports without facing discrimination. The presidential order that was signed on Jan. 20 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.”
While it has no specific guidelines, the order requires agencies to create a plan that will prohibit discrimination against transgender athletes and any aspect concerning their sexual identity within the sports community. Many also believe the order was tied to federal funding in schools, which has led to even more public protests.
“Women’s sports is a protected category [which will be] diminished if schools are pushed to give biological men the right to participate in them,” “Students for Trump” founder Ryan Fournier explained to USA Today, “This executive order is a threat to decades of women’s achievement.”
Others reason that Biden’s order has finally allowed transgender people to be seen as equal in more everyday activities like sports, insisting that there was and is no scientific proof of there being a physical disadvantage between transgender and female-born women in sports.
“A 2017 meta-analysis of prior research found that ‘there is no direct or consistent research suggesting transgender female individuals . . . have an athletic advantage at any stage of their transition,’” Dr. Garrett Garborcauskas of Quinnipiac University explained to the Wall Street Journal. The professor also stressed that it is crucial to allow an equal opportunity for transgender athletes, as many have been bullied out of their schools or even expelled because of their sexual identity.
In response to Biden’s order, many states have proposed bills that act against this equity issue by trying to limit certain aspects of the presidential ruling. Montana is among the dozen states that have pushed for transgender restrictions by passing two bills in the House of Montana on Jan. 18. Like Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s (D) Dec. 2020 anti-trans bill that restricted Title IX protections based on “biological sex as determined at birth by a physician,” Rep. John Fuller’s (R) two bills are associated with controlling trans athletes within the female sports community while also restricting practitioners who assist in gender reassignment procedures in the state of Montana.
House Bill 112 would ban trans women from participating in women’s interscholastic sports, while House Bill 113 would restrict doctors from providing gender-affirming care to trans youth. Montana Public Radio (MTPR) reported that many Democratic representatives of Montana oppose the bills, saying the bills are “harmful” and lack the dignity and respect needed to allow transgender women to thrive. Others like Rep. Fuller believe trans youth lack the “maturity, prudence and experience” to make responsible decisions, including reassigning their gender identity. Ultimately, only House Bill 112 was passed to the Senate with a vote of 61-38, as House Bill 113 was narrowly voted down on Jan. 26.
There are dozens more like these that are being passed through the House of Representatives. Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Texas and Utah are among the states that are trying to pass laws ranging from criminal punishment for assisting in transgender-related surgeries and treatment to restricting a person’s decision to transition until they are 21 years or older.
The year 2021 is off to a controversial start as Biden has caused quite a stir in the nation and within Congress itself. While many of these recent laws have been signed into effect for the first time, others are simply reversals of Donald Trump’s policies during his term, like the ban of transgender people serving in the military. As the new chief executive settles into office, the divide between Democrat and Republican may deepen even more as very contentious subjects are brought to the presidential oval office, for some the first time in American history.
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Youtube and Pinterest!