[This column appears in the January/February 2021 issue of Boston Spirit magazine.]
A New Year and a New Administration
The Trump administration unleashed a wave of attacks in the last four years targeting the entire LGBTQ community and especially those most vulnerable among us. While GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and others continue to fight back, come January 20, 2021, the Biden-Harris administration can also take executive action to reverse some of the most harmful policies, including:
LGBTQ non-discrimination: Trump’s Department of Justice took repeated positions against non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. The administration staked out positions in two cases at the Supreme Court that gay people should be excluded from federal workplace protections, and in another that transgender people should as well. While the Court ultimately affirmed those protections, it’s important that the Biden-Harris administration restore the weight of the federal government to the side of fairness.
The transgender military ban: We expect President-elect Biden to honor his promise to lift the discriminatory transgender military ban on day one. Until that happens, GLAD will continue to challenge the ban in court. We recently filed a fourth lawsuit, “McIntyre v. Whitmer,” on behalf of a transgender woman who faces discharge after five years in the Michigan Army National Guard and years of active duty service before that.
Healthcare: This June, the Trump administration reversed a federal rule that clarified the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) non-discrimination provision that prohibits denial of healthcare to LGBTQ people. In our case “Pangborn v. Ascend,” GLAD is aiming to establish federal precedent clarifying the ACA’s protections. But we also hope and expect the incoming administration to make this clear as well.
Education: Trump’s Department of Education withdrew key guidance to schools on ensuring full inclusion of transgender students, and recently threatened to deny federal funding to districts with inclusive policies. The incoming administration must get education back on track to ensure equal educational opportunities so that all students can survive and thrive.
Asylum: On December 11, the Department of Homeland Security finalized a new regulation that guts asylum rules, with devastating consequences for LGBTQ refugees. The Biden-Harris administration should reverse this cruel policy immediately.
Housing and Shelter Access: As this goes to print, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is still considering an alarming rule that would allow homeless shelters to turn transgender people away. GLAD is ready to challenge efforts to roll back protections at the federal level, and we expect to have allies on that in the new administration.
Equality Act: As we look forward to once again having a federal administration committed to LGBTQ equality, federal action isn’t all that’s needed to put us back on a path towards equal justice for all. GLAD is working with others across the country to press Congress to finally pass the Equality Act. Doing so would not only build on this summer’s Supreme Court decision confirming that sexual orientation and gender identity are clearly included within federal workplace protections, but would explicitly affirm those protections for housing, education and beyond.
GLAD is also working with partners across New England to advance LGBTQ equality, equity and racial and economic justice through legislation and policy as well as litigation. This includes expanding parentage protections for LGBTQ families, criminal legal system reforms for incarcerated people, and furthering protections for LGBTQ youth, including school protections and juvenile justice reforms. You can read more about these efforts and how you can get involved by visiting our website www.glad.org.
The end of the Trump administration offers the promise of reversing dangerous policy and advancing LGBTQ equality, but it will take all of us working together—at the federal, state and local level—to ensure that promise is realized.
Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a free subscription to Boston Spirit magazine, New England’s premier LGBT magazine. We will send you a copy of Boston Spirit 6 times per year and we never sell/rent our subscriber information. Click HERE to sign up!
