Biden Executive Order on "Gender Identity" Will Eviscerate Women's Rights

WASHINGTON -- /PRNewswire/ -- Feminist organization, Women's Liberation Front (WoLF), is denouncing an executive order signed by President Biden on his first day in office which takes steps to end female-only spaces and sports. Biden signed the controversial "Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation" despite the objections from many women's organizations.

While WoLF supports protecting LGB Americans from discrimination based on same-sex attraction, this must be done without harming women's rights. The policy will require federal agencies to interpret every regulation, including both Title VII and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, that prohibits "sex discrimination" as also prohibiting discrimination on the basis of "gender identity." According to Lauren Adams, Legal Director for WoLF, this policy will likely prohibit female-only student athletics and sex-segregation in intimate spaces such as domestic violence shelters and prisons.

The hashtag #BidenErasedWomen is now trending on Twitter as feminists, the LGB community, and civil liberties advocates are speaking out against the policy.

Another executive order Biden signed yesterday addressing equity for "underserved communities" also left out sex discrimination, ignoring the history of oppression and inequality faced by women and girls in the United States.

"Both executive orders send a heartbreaking message to women and girls that their government does not view them as worthy of consideration and is not willing to recognize female people as a discrete class," said Adams. The orders also seriously weaken the ability of federal agencies to even consider the needs of women and girls.

Natasha Chart, WoLF Executive Director, said, "This executive order is death by a thousand cuts for women's rights, as well as a threat to civil liberties for all Americans. Our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and conscience must be upheld alongside common-sense protections for vulnerable populations such as women, girls, and LGB Americans."

While policies protecting individuals from discrimination based on same-sex attraction are widely supported, "gender identity" policies are unpopular. Polling of American voters in October revealed cross-partisan disapproval of policies that would allow violent male sex offenders to be housed in women's prisons and emergency shelters, or allow boys to compete in girls' athletics. These policies are particularly unpopular with marginalized groups, such as black and Hispanic voters, who tend to be disproportionately affected by them.

SOURCE Women's Liberation Front