GOP hits Biden’s trans protections in coordinated 1-2 attack  

Republicans landed a one-two punch Wednesday and Thursday in a coordinated assault on new protections for LGBTQ+ people enacted by the Biden administration.

On Wednesday, attorneys general in seven red states sued the White House over expanded Title IX protections applied to the Affordable Care Act, meant to protect transgender people from medical discrimination.

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Then on Thursday, the Republican-led US House of Representatives voted to eliminate a clarification for the Department of Education that Title IX prohibitions on discrimination on the basis of sex apply to transgender individuals.

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The suit and the vote were a blow to Democrats’ efforts to counter Republicans’ assault on LGBTQ+ and trans rights, and a demonstration of the limits of Biden’s executive authority.    

“Republicans’ obsession with attacking the LGBTQI+ community — especially the transgender community — knows no bounds,” said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus.

The House resolution introduced by Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) would use the Congressional Review Act to repeal the president’s new Title IX rule, “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance.”  

If successful, the regulations would revert to those issued by former President Trump’s Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, in 2020. Future administrations would be blocked from ever issuing a rule that was “substantially the same” as the Biden Administration rule, according to the Congressional Equality Caucus.

The federal lawsuit filed by Republican state attorneys general is aimed at recent changes to the Affordable Care Act, meant to protect transgender people from medical discrimination.

Missouri, Utah, Iowa, Idaho, Arkansas, and North and South Dakota joined the American College of Pediatricians, a conservative medical professional organization, to file four claims against the Biden administration over the changes based on their opposition to gender-affirming care, particularly for trans youth.

“The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act forces doctors to perform, refer for, or affirm harmful gender-transition procedures and forces states to pay for these dangerous procedures in state health plans,” the red states claim. “This radical mandate will hurt children.”

The Biden rule changes would bar insurers and medical providers from denying medical care “based upon the individual’s sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or gender otherwise recorded.”

The plaintiffs claim the changes violate their free speech protections and want them blocked.

The Biden administration’s revised rules for the Department of Education went into effect last week.

In addition to explicitly protecting LGBTQ+ and trans students from discrimination, the changes clearly define sex-based harassment to include harassment and sexual harassment based on sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, sexual orientation, and gender identity in school settings.

“It seems the bullies have left the schoolyard, because they’re walking the halls of Congress now,” said Equality Caucus chair Pocan.

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