WASHINGTON, DC — Today marks the 100th day of President Joseph R. Biden's presidency. In response, Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign, released the following statement celebrating the many steps the Biden Administration has taken to defend and expand LGBTQ rights in the United States and across the world — and their clear commitment to continue the drumbeat of progress in the weeks, months and years to come:
"We are incredibly proud of the work the Biden Administration has done to protect and advance the rights of LGBTQ people here in the United States and across the world during his first 100 days in office. From issuing an executive order to implementing the Bostock decision across federal laws to reversing the ban on transgender service members, to an historic commitment to diversity in hiring — including appointing the first openly LGBTQ Cabinet member — the Biden Administration has made it clear that they celebrate and will fight for LGBTQ people at every level."
"Before President Biden took office, the Human Rights Campaign published our Blueprint for Positive Change — a comprehensive set of policy recommendations to take our country out of the dark days of the past four years and into a more inclusive, safe, and accepting world. Many of these recommendations have been met, and there have been significant actions taken on many more. We are pleased with the progress that has been made in such a short amount of time, and we look forward to continuing our work with President Biden and his administration — as well as members of Congress who want to join millions of Americans in the fight for equality for all — to advance LGBTQ rights, particularly as the rights of LGBTQ people remain under attack in several states."
The Biden Administration has accomplished or set in motion many of the advancements for equality the Human Rights Campaign laid out in the Blueprint for Positive Change, including:
—Ensuring a comprehensive administrative implementation of Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the Supreme Court determined that federal sex nondiscrimination laws also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, including through the Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.
—Reversing restrictions on transgender individuals and allowing them to return to an inclusive policy of military service.
—Appointing openly LGBTQ individuals to the administration, including the first openly LGBTQ cabinet member and the first Senate-confirmed transgender official, and committing to diversity in hiring across the federal government.
—Ending the global gag rule, which barred governmental aid to any international organization that provides abortion information, referrals, or services even when the NGO provides those services with alternate funds — slashing funding from key providers of HIV assistance and other health care services globally.
—Revoking the Trump Administration's order that limited diversity training in the federal government.
—Rescinding a Trump-era proposal to gut the Equal Access Rule, which explicitly prohibits discrimination in HUD-funded housing and programs on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
—Actively working to advance LGBTQ rights globally, including through the Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Persons Around the World.
—Additionally, the Biden Administration has also publicly begun to address the following suggestions outlined in HRC's Blueprint for Progress, a promising sign for even more future advances in LGBTQ equality and justice:
—Establishing uniform data collection standards incorporating sexual orientation and gender identity into federal surveys.
—Ensuring the enforcement of LGBTQ students' rights under Title IX, including through an Executive Order on Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free from Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, -Including Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity, a Department of Justice memorandum finding that Bostock applies to Title IX, and an announcement from the Department of Education their intent to issue regulations ensuring the rights of LGBTQ students.
—Ensuring student survivors of sexual harassment and assault are protected, through an Executive Order on Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free from Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Including Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity, and an announcement from the Department of Education announcing their intent to issue regulations.
—Reinstating regulation prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ beneficiaries of grants and programs by the Housing and Human Services department. HHS has agreed to a court order halting implementation of a Trump-era rule that proposed cutting these regulations.
—Restoring the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Regulation, a rule preventing HUD — and the cities, counties, states and public housing agencies it funds — from discriminating in their programs, that the Administration committed to doing through the Memorandum on Redressing Our Nation's and the Federal Government's History of Discriminatory Housing Practices and Policies and which is currently pending review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
—Restoring Disparate Impact Regulation, which the Administration committed to doing through the Memorandum on Redressing Our Nation's and the Federal Government's History of Discriminatory Housing Practices and Policies and which is currently pending review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
—Ensuring transgender people who are incarcerated in federal facilities have safe housing and are provided proper medical treatment — Biden's Department of Justice has positioned in litigation that a failure to do so violates the 8th Amendment.
—Rejoining and re-engaging with the United Nations and other global efforts to advance LGBTQ human rights.
—Creating a panel of human rights experts to review the conclusion of the Commission on Unalienable Rights and provide inclusive recommendations — Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has made it clear that he rejects the conclusion of the Commission, which was designed by the Trump-era State Department to challenge the international consensus with a narrow view of human rights, that among other things would leave LGBTQ people even more vulnerable to violence and discrimination.
