The executive order, signed June 15 by President Joe Biden, is called “Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals.”
The 3,600-word order, which comes during so-called “Pride Month,” claims there are “unrelenting political and legislative attacks” on “LGBTQI+” people, including children.
Matt Sharp, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, says the order is more than a feel-good message for Biden’s supporters. The attorney predicts lawsuits will be coming because the order tells the federal government to push “gender ideology” which will undermine religious freedom, parental rights, and women-only sports.
"When the federal government starts taking action on that, and taking steps to undermine some of our freedoms and protections,” he tells AFN, “I do think there is likely to be lawsuits challenging those actions by the federal government and the administrative state that's pushing this across the country."
At about the same time the White House was releasing that executive order, the Biden administration announced a task force that will supposedly address “online harassment and abuse.” That plan came in the form of a “memorandum” that sets up an “interagency effort” led by the Director of the White House Gender Policy Council and by the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
The memo states the new task force will focus exclusively on gender-based posts. In addition to addressing serious issues such as revenge porn, doxing and death threats, the committee will target "gender disinformation” and posts that influence a woman's political decisions about her life, which is likely a reference to abortion.
Curtis Houck of the Media Research Center tells AFN the memo's language is troublesome enough to warrant the attention of conservatives and free speech advocates.
“Once you start talking in more esoteric and kind of stretchable language,” he warns, “that's where everybody's ears start perking up.”
Or at least they should, he says, if they believe in protecting First Amendment-protected free speech.
Regarding the “Advancing Equality” executive order, Dr. Jeffrey Barrows of the Christian Medical and Dental Association says the Biden administration is ignoring medicine for ideology, and calling it “gender-affirming care” when it harms the bodies of mentally confused young children.
“We're very upset that this executive order has gone out,” he says, “and we just want to let people know it is not based on good medical evidence."
