Last Updated on January 28, 2021
After telegraphing his intention to greatly hobble women’s sports last June, President Biden has followed through on his threat to marginalize female athletes in sports from grade school to the professional class.
Just hours after another disingenuous call for “unity,” the President ignited a new controversy sure to continue the divide in the country. He signed an executive order allowing transgender women compete in women’s sports.
Across social media the controversy erupted. #BidenErasedWomen and #TERFs (an acronym for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist”) started to trend across all the social media platforms.
The White House told federal agencies this week that a Supreme Court decision prohibiting workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity also applies to students under Title IX, reversing a Trump Education Department position. https://t.co/fezlML7IK1
— Andrew Kreighbaum (@kreighbaum) January 22, 2021
Trans female athletes are biologically born males who now identify as female. Mr. Biden’s allows those males identifying as males to compete against biological women and girls, despite their physical advantages.
Many who oppose the order argue that girls may very well lose out on prestigious sports victories and, perhaps, even scholarships that would allow them the financial benefits to higher education.
In Connecticut – where litigation is pending on the subject of trans females participating in women’s sports, two biological males now hold 15 women’s State Championship titles.
In the Connecticut case, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), has filed a complaint with the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (DOE).
Christina Holcomb, the attorney handling the case for the ADF said redefining biological sex to mean gender identity creates the problem of biological males come into women’s sports and, based on identity alone, dominate that field.
“Biology, not identity, is what matters in athletics,” Ms Holcomb said.
In that case – now that Mr. Biden has won the presidency and issued his order, the DOE will switch sides in two court battles, including the one in Connecticut. The other is in Idaho. Both litigate the question of whether transgender athletes are treated by their biological sex or by how they identify.
Today: @POTUS signed an Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.
"All persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation."https://t.co/o0oPq8ZNIt
— Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (@TLDEF) January 21, 2021
Last June, while on the campaign trail, Mr. Biden said, “[T]here is no room for compromise” on transgender issues, calling the matter the “civil rights issue of our time.”
Mr. Biden’s order, titled “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation,” requires institutions that receive Title IX funding to allow biological males who identify as female to compete in women’s athletics. “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to…school sports,” the order states.
“[L]aws that prohibit sex discrimination – including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972…prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.”
