By Jo Yurcaba - NBC News
President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Wednesday extending existing protections against
discrimination
for the LGBTQ community.
Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest advocacy group for the LGBTQ community, called it the “most substantive and broad executive order regarding sexual orientation and gender identity ever issued. by a president.
[The White House page mentions LGBTQ people again]
The order mandates all federal agencies to implement the landmark 2020 decision made by the Supreme Court in
Bostock v.
Clayton County, Georgia
, which established that LGBTQ people are protected from employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The order is also based on the court's decision to order all federal agencies with mechanisms to protect against discrimination based on sex to interpret those statutes to also protect against discrimination based on
sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression
.
Biden's order establishes, “under Bostock's reasoning,” laws that prohibit discrimination based on sex, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Fair Housing Act, and section 412 of the Immigration Act. and Nationality, "prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, provided that the laws do not contain sufficient indications to establish otherwise."
The Supreme Court declares that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation is illegal
June 15, 202001: 53
“Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the bathroom, locker room, or school sports,” the executive order states, and “adults should earn a living and pursue their vocation knowing they will not be fired, demoted or abused because of who they go home with or because the way they dress does not conform to stereotypes based on sex ”.
Biden also recognized how discrimination against LGBTQ people "sometimes intersects with other forms of discrimination that were prohibited, including discrimination based on race or disability."
"For example, black transgender Americans face inconceivably high levels of job discrimination, homelessness and violence, including fatal violence," the order states.
"A breath of relief"
Advocacy groups said the action is a huge step forward after four years of policies by the Donald Trump Administration that rolled back, or attempted to roll back, protections for LGBTQ people, including rules from the Department of Health and Human Services. that would have allowed discrimination against transgender people.
"We believe it is important for the government and our country to be able to harness the incredible contributions that people in the community can make," Jennifer Levi, director of GLAD's Transgender Rights Project, told NBC News.
"I am excited by the fact that the incoming administration wants to ensure full inclusion, but also wants to take advantage of all that the community has to offer," she added.
["We carry pride with us": LGBTQ Latinos celebrate victories worried about hostility and violence]
David of the Human Rights Campaign said the order will provide
much-needed relief
for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
queer people
.
Today, millions of Americans can take a breath of relief knowing that their president and his government believe that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is no longer tolerated, but is illegal, he said in a statement.
"While detailed implementation in the federal government will take time, this executive order will immediately begin to change the lives of millions of LGBTQ people who seek to be treated equally under the law," he added.
President Joe Biden signs an executive order as part of his Administration's plans to fight the coronavirus pandemic, while Vice President Kamala Harris stands at the White House in Washington, United States, on January 21, 2121 REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said the order "moves us one step toward the day when transgender people can live openly without being discriminated against."
With it, he said, the legacy of Aimee Stephens, Don Zarda and Gerald Bostock, the LGBTQ plaintiffs in the landmark Bostock case, "grows larger."
"They stood up against discrimination, and by their actions today the Biden administration is recognizing the virtue of their cause and their courage in the face of injustice," Keisling said in a statement.
Biden's actions on his first day in office, he added, "will help improve the lives of millions of people."
"A comprehensive and intersectional approach"
Biden issued more than a dozen executive orders Wednesday, many of which activists believe will positively impact LGBTQ people.
An executive order focused on "advancing racial equality and supporting underserved communities" will establish the interagency equality data task force to
collect better data
to "measure and advance equity," among other actions. Sam Brinton, vice president of advocacy and government affairs for Project Trevor, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization, said data collection is key in supporting queer youth.
[Biden signs the first executive orders related to immigration, climate change and the pandemic]
“It is truly a breath of fresh air to see President Biden prioritize protections against LGBTQ discrimination and data collection from day one, along with other key policy changes that will protect marginalized communities,” Brinton said in a speech. release.
“At Project Trevor, we know that
ending LGBTQ youth suicide
will require a comprehensive and intersectional approach, including new policies and programs aimed at eradicating suicide risk factors, such as discrimination, disparities in mental health care , and conversion therapy.
We look forward to working with the Biden administration and both parties in Congress to address these issues and save the lives of LGBTQ youth, "he added.
An order to initiate a coordinated response against COVID-19 will also be "extremely important" for LGBTQ students, according to Eliza Byard, executive director of GLSEN, a nonprofit organization that advocates for LGBTQ youth.
"The fact is, the most vulnerable and marginalized students suffer the most when the system doesn't work," Byard said.
“Our schools are not serving our children effectively;
they don't have the resources to do it, and then the most vulnerable youth are the ones who suffer the most: LGBTQ +, immigrants, black and Hispanic students, students with disabilities ”.
Joe Biden signs 17 executive orders on his first day as US President.
Jan. 20, 202101: 06
Byard said the COVID-19 order, along with others, including the order preserving Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program for young people who were brought into the country as children and who do not have legal status. They are "forms of relief that go to the heart of pain at those intersections, and that is extremely important."
Some of Biden's orders roll back policies of the Trump administration.
For example, the order to advance racial equality reverses Trump's executive order 13950, which
prohibited diversity and inclusion trainings
that promote "divisive concepts" about race and sex.
A federal court recently blocked the implementation of that order.
The Bostock order also undoes Trump administration policies issued in its last days, such as the Department of Health and Human Services rule that would have allowed social service providers, such as adoption agencies, to
discriminate against LGBTQ people
.
It will also prevent the implementation of a Justice Department memo that would have limited the scope of Bostock's decision to not involve sports teams or restrooms, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The memo has been removed from the department's website.
[With Trump away, Joe Biden vows to bring the truth back to the White House]
Some advocates, in addition to celebrating the Biden administration, are calling for more action.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) urged the administration to
“take action to fully recognize transgender and non-binary people”
with an executive order that would allow transgender people to receive proper identifications.
"Trans and non-binary people belong, and need identifications that accurately reflect who they are so they can travel, apply for jobs and enter public establishments without risk of being attacked or harassed," said LaLa Zannell, director of the justice campaign ACLU trans in a statement, "We know who we are, and we need the federal government to recognize who we are."
