Biden has completely obliterated woman’s sex based protections as he said he would do.

[yourfaceisaforeignfood]

www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-preventing-and-combating-discrimination-on-basis-of-gender-identity-or-sexual-orientation/

“Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports."

Biden just passed all the worst parts of the Equality Act by executive order (so without going through any legislation at all). It is limited in effect to agencies (I think) but those agencies include the Bureau of Prisons, Dept of Housing and Urban Development, Dept of Education, Dept of Labor etc

This will of course be unchallenged, even welcomed by the media. It will likely have a knock on effect around the world.

And I am so angry. So so angry. He was never the ‘least worst option’ he is the absolute worst option.

As Abigail Shriner says
twitter.com/abigailshrier/status/1352121732723666946?s=21

turn women can care about both issues, particularly black women. So to say one is more important rather defeats the point. They are both being discriminated against, they are both having their views/rights and protections violated. We are able to care about both issues at the same time, and choose for something better!

@Mummyoflittledragon

This is what I said every time dh spoke of how much he was looking forward to Biden being sworn in. Don’t get me wrong, I was glad to see the back of Trump. But Biden is a privileged old white man, who doesn’t have a clue what he’s just done.

I think this is it. He just doesn't get what he has done.

Of course people shouldn't be discriminated against because of the way they dress or who they are attracted to. And it all sounds very lovely to say 'people should be allowed to be who they are' blah blah blah.

But I just think that Biden, as an old white privileged man, just hasn't stopped to think of what impact this would have on women and girls.

Wait until Black or Hispanic girls from economically deprived backgrounds are denied sports scholarships in college because they didn't go through male puberty.
It's so difficult to see the challenges for biological women from the get go if you have never thought of it before. White supremacy has been emboldened by the previous president and obviously that is an immediate challenge.
And Be Kind is such an important message. But there's Be Kind and there's "move over don't challenge me". It'll take time to sink in if you never thought about it before.

"If you can find me 5 etc etc..." See, I feel like thinking like this has always been part of the problem. Why does something have to reach an arbitrary level of damage before the basic fundamental principles and assumptions can be queried?

By the time the damage is done widely, its too late, surely?

Also, surely we can tackle more than one thing at once? Sex based rights AND others?

If you can find me 5 black or Hispanic activists with any sizable following for whom this is their main issue I’ll be quiet

I can’t answer this question but I’m not sure why it should stop people from discussing bad law being brought in by Biden.

It seems to me that it is not people with sizeable followings who are most affected by bad law. Look at the women who were targeted and lost their livelihoods because of Yaniv. By all accounts working class immigrant women were disproportionately affected. If women of colour with sizeable followings are not concerned with this issue (which I doubt very much to be true because in this country many of the legal cases that we are seeing are being brought by women of colour) that shouldn’t prevent the rest of us from having an opinion on it.

Does anyone know the difference between an executive order and passing legislation in the US. Can it be rescinded or details of the order altered? How does that happen?

I am afraid I think it needs to get worse before it gets better.. same as in the UK, it needed the threat of the changes, proposals by the government to bring in Self-ID, to shine light on the matter.

I can't bring myself to be angry at Biden. I really don't think he's doing this to endanger women, it's just that he, like a lot of people, really has not thought through the practical consequences of what they are saying... it's all seen through the lens of 'be kind to everyone'.

I think the US has the additional problem of being seen as a right-wing Trump supporter if you question trans rights. We have a similar problem here but thanks to people like JKR there's a growing realisation in the population that if individuals like JKR and Piers Morgan have similar views on the subject, perhaps they have a point.

This is the problem with old men running the country.

They are out of touch, with the best will in the world they are too old to understand the issues of today, to understand their own privilege and make the changes needed to evolve. They rely on second rate advice, and do not get it at all. You get the same look of confusion every time and some sound bite about progress. There is NO progress at all as far as I can see on this front.

Women's voices are drowned out, and the ones that should be speaking up for us choose not to so it does not damage their next career move, and so it goes on.

US is in danger of becoming very stale, very intolerant and left behind.

Thing is, if you genuinely believe that gender identity is more significant than sex, this is where it leads.
I also think in the UK we have to view this as coming from a place where transpeople have far fewer rights than here. This is what some people would like to see here, but we are in a place where there is protection against discrimination and you can access health care. So I reckon that does allow more space for GC views and an argument that sex based rights are important.
America is a very different place. But whether or not this has catastrophic effects on women (likely) we shall have to wait and see.
Cynically, if it does, it gives UK feminists better evidence to argue against following suit.

Get ready for Woke America. It will be similar to living in China under the Red Guard.

@Livinginthecity

Get ready for Woke America. It will be similar to living in China under the Red Guard.

This

it's just that he, like a lot of people, really has not thought through the practical consequences of what they are saying... it's all seen through the lens of 'be kind to everyone'

Horizon It is his job to be aware of the consequences! It is his job to know how this will impact 50% of the nation. He is not supposed to be like every other ignorant fool, he is the President and should be all over his brief and understand the implications fully.
It is not good enough to say he 'didn't know' - does that make it any better? Of course not. Ignorance is not an excuse. It is definitely not okay.

Or is it possible American voters are not as worried about this issue as you are and that’s why they voted Biden in and why there’s no outcry in the press about this executive order?

Lol the press. The completely non-partisan press

The press was captured by this woke shit long ago. You won't see a balanced argument about this anywhere in the MSM.

The main stream press signed up to this agenda years ago.

turnitonagain I absolutely see why racial equality might be seen as a more urgent concern for some of your relatives (especially with the social pressure on women to put men’s needs first). Affected communities have seen the impact of racial discrimination and been fighting for equality for a long time, and it is difficult to fight too many injustices at the same time.

However Racial equality that only provides equality for men is not equality

@Livinginthecity

Get ready for Woke America. It will be similar to living in China under the Red Guard.

AOC legitimately scares me.

God, America! From extreme to another

This summed it up well for me:

Great, another dude in charge of health, telling women how to women, FML....

@feelingquitehopeful

But our own government, and opposition, have been advocating stronger positions than he does. Most of Labour think that people who hold views like us are bigots. If you asked me 3 or 4 years ago I would have held the same position.. because I had not given it the thought.. my default position would be 'oh poor oppressed group, of course they should be given their human rights'. It's only through Mumsnet that my eyes have been opened.

Every what I would consider decent leader holds the same view as Biden. We are the ones in the 'outlying' position at the moment. I truly believe history will be kind to us, but I also won't start hurling abuse at Biden on this - he's coming from the right place, of wanting tolerance and acceptance of all people - he (and most of America) have just not grasped the terrible consequences of that well intentioned viewpoint yet.

Terrifying. And anyone with the smallest bit of intelligence would have seen this coming.

At least here in the UK Horizon there seems to be a pause button in play, we are not seeing a massive movement now towards even more of the same when we compare it to Cameron's time in office. Many people are very very aware of this problem now, even if it took a while for it to go mainstream. It is now reached a level of consciousness and conversation - debate here in the UK that is yet to happen in the states to the same level.

The fact Biden has 'not grasped' the terrible consequences does not help, it makes it even worse.

At no point has anyone 'hurled abuse' at Biden on this thread or anywhere else, but it is definitely not okay to overlook this development. We need to wake up, this is going the wrong way and saying oh well he just doesn't get it - aren't we just providing more feeble pathetic excuses to old men that just don't get it? I am not going to do that, and if you care about it enough, nor will you.

NorthernIrishFeminist

Yes. Indeed!

Please give over with the lazy ageism. For one thing, Kamala Harris is completely signed up to this too.
If anything, I would say it's the older generations who have been quicker to grasp the issues.