Biden Administration Made 24 Pro-LGBTQ Actions in First 50 days
Fifty days into their administration, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have made clear their commitment to furthering the rights of the LGBTQ community.
On March 11, GLAAD launched the Biden Equality and Accountability Tracker (BEAT) to keep tabs on the actions the administration takes to further the rights of queer people in the U.S. According to that tracker, the new administration has already made more than 24 actions that promote LGBTQ equality.
“GLAAD’s Biden Equality Accountability Tracker is an ongoing resource tool to track how well the Biden administration is keeping to its word to make progress for the LGBTQ community. The more than 24 pro-equality moves in just the first 50 days are in stark contrast to the 181+ negative policies and rhetoric deployed against LGBTQ Americans by the previous administration.” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement.
BEAT counts actions that the administration has made around LGBTQ rights and defines actions as remarks made in statements or speeches, support for legislation, nominations by the executive branch and executive orders. These moves include statements of support from the White House for the Equality Act, a sweeping, civil rights bill that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation; the implementation the Supreme Court’s Bostock ruling, which helps protect LGBTQ employees; and the reversal of the transgender military ban.
In addition to these actions, GLAAD’s Biden accountability tracker counts eight nominations of individuals including Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Rachel Levine, Transportation Secretary Peter Buttigeig, and White House Social Secretary Carlos Elizondo.
While Ellis praises the moves the new administration has made, she also acknowledges that LGTBQ rights and acceptance are far from a done deal in the U.S. In an editorial for Openly, she addresses the widespread push by conservatives to ban trans athletes in sports claiming unfairness, despite there being zero evidence of that unfairness.
“These attacks aren’t really about sports. They’re part of a decades-long effort from a handful of anti-LGBT+ groups who have repeatedly tried and failed with other bans—from using the restroom to getting married.”
Research show that 40 percent of transgender youth reported being threatened or harmed because of their identity.
When asked about Biden’s stance on trans rights, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “The president’s belief is that trans rights are human rights.”
While the statement is encouraging, we need the Biden administration to make concrete moves to address the barrage of attacks on trans people happening throughout the U.S.
“At the halfway mark to 100 days, LGBT+ people are still waiting to be fully included. We urge everyone in Washington and in all 50 states to hold the powerful and those with platforms accountable to the truth about our lives and to the American promise of equality and justice for all. We are counting on you,” Ellis writes.
