President-elect Joe Biden is expected to reverse a number of Trump’s anti-trans policies, including the recent action taken against trans students.
Today, Joe Biden will be sworn into office as part of a ceremonial inauguration.
There has been great speculation over what protections will be reinstated by the President-elect, but various news publications have suggested the top priorities fall in line with overturning the transgender ban in military and switching back to Obama-era strategies.
According to Washington Blade, Gen. Lloyd Austin, who has been assigned by Biden to lead the Defense Department, is in favour of the reversal of the trans military ban: “I support the plan to overturn the ban, I truly believe that if you’re a fit and you’re qualified to serve and you can maintain the standards, you should be allowed to serve.”
However, the Washington Blade states the reversal of the 2018 ban could take up to a year.
The new administration is set to relax existing regulations and allow transgender students to access their preferred facilities in accordance with their identified gender; a rule which was implemented during Obama’s presidency.
In terms of future prospects, it’s likely Joe Biden will have other plans to put into play. A large part of the President-elect’s campaign was the promise to deliver the Equality Act in his first 100 days in office, as well as promising to keep LGBTQ+ rights on his agenda.
The Act in question is commonly referred to as the Equality Act which aims to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and for other purposes.
Biden has long been a proponent of LGBTQ+ rights. Under the Obama administration, the Democrat has been a vocal advocator of the queer community.
The presidential hopeful is also working to undo stigma imposed on the LGBTQ+ community and to open up accessibility to resources.
This promise would reverse the Department of Defences policies which unfair discriminate against those living with HIV and Trump-Pence’s Deploy or Get Out policy which, again, targets HIV positive individuals.
In May 2012, Biden historically became the first highest ranking official to back same-sex marriage.
“I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men marrying women are entitled to the same exact rights,” he said during an appearance on Meet the Press.
“All the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that.
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