Biden Signs Executive Order on LGBTQ+ Rights

Facts

• At a White House Pride ceremony on Wed., Pres. Biden issued an executive order aimed at combating what his admin. calls discriminatory legislation against the LGBTQ+ community by Republican-controlled states.¹
• The order seeks to prevent 'conversion therapy' by directing the Dept. of Health and Human Services to clarify it will withdraw federal funding from organizations conducting such practices.²
• The order also expands transgender children's access to gender-reassignment care, which includes treatments such as puberty blockers and sex-change surgeries.³
• It also seeks to expand foster care protections for gay and transgender parents, as well as directs the Dept. of Education to devise rules to protect LGBTQ+ students.¹
• Biden's order is the latest move in the ongoing dispute over education, as Republicans seek to restrict the teaching of certain curricula related to race and sexual orientation.²
• Biden also reiterated his call on Congress to enact the Equality Act, which would include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in civil rights law.¹

Sources: ¹Time, ²Washington Post and ³Daily Caller.

Narratives

• Right narrative, as provided by Daily Caller. Biden should be applauded for his actions to protect young people from the extreme anti-LGBTQ+ agenda perpetuated by Republicans. He's combatting cruelty with a vision of inclusivity that says, at the very least, LGBTQ+ kids should feel safe at school.
• Left narrative, as provided by Pinknews. With one stroke of the pen, Biden has categorized many Christians and conservatives, as well as many feminists and Democrats, as bullies of the LGBTQ+ community. It's not bullying to protect confused kids from controversial treatments. It's not wrong to promote ethical mental health care, reserve girls' sports for girls, and shield young children from gender theory in the classroom.