PRI.org photo – Transgender martial arts fighter Fallon Fox
By Nancy Thorner -
As acclaimed in a Post Editorial Board opinion headline on January 21, 2020, Biden’s executive order unlevels the playing field for girls.
The editorial goes on to say:
Mere hours after stressing the need for "unity," President Biden sparked a new civil war with an executive order letting biological males turned transgender women to compete in women's sports.
It’s one thing, after all, to ban discrimination; it’s another to tell schools and colleges that trans women athletes — biologically born boys who now identify as female — must be allowed to compete with biological women and girls, despite their physical advantages.
The notion is patently ridiculous and may result in girls losing out on prestigious sports victories (and maybe scholarships that go with them). It also risks greater injuries to women.
Title IX
And what about Title IX, the landmark federal law that guarantees equal opportunity for women and girls in education and sports?
Title IX wasn’t drafted with the intent of allowing biological women to go up against female-identifying men.
Biden withdraws support of Trump’s intervention case
It is notable that on Feb. 24, 2021 the Biden Administration withdrew government support from a transgender federal lawsuit in Connecticut that sought to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls' high school sports.
“Connecticut allows high school athletes to compete in sports according to their gender identity. The lawsuit was filed a year ago by several cisgender runners who argue they have been deprived of wins, state titles and athletic opportunities by being forced to compete against two transgender sprinters.”
“The Trump administration’s intervention in the case last year came as state legislatures around the country debated restricting transgender athletes’ participation to their gender assigned at birth. Seventeen states considered such legislation, and Idaho passed a law. The Republican-controlled Mississippi legislature overwhelmingly approved a similar bill in February of 2021.”
Supporters of restrictions on transgender athletes argue that transgender girls, because they were born male, are naturally stronger, faster and bigger than those born female.
Status of Equality Act
“On Feb. 25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, a bill that proposes to amend federal civil rights law to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ individuals in employment, housing and public schools, among other areas, even though the U.S. Supreme Court already has interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
“The vote in the House was close, 224 to 206, with three Republicans joining all Democrats in favor of the legislation. President Joe Biden has called the bill "a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all."
“Some religious denominations oppose the legislation, saying that its lack of religious exemptions challenges religious liberty.”
The U.S. Senate has not yet taken up the bill.
What does Rev. Franklin Graham think about the Equality Act?
Franklin Graham, on February 5, 2021, put out an urgent prayer alert about the Equality Act in letter form about the dangerous piece of legislation. As Graham wrote: "The Equality Act is a threat to life as we know it in our nation today. It’s a real game-changer."
Graham explains some of the worst aspects of the Equality Act:
- The Equality Act designates schools, churches, and healthcare organizations as “public accommodations.” With this, schools, churches, and hospitals could be forced to accept the government’s beliefs and mandates about sexual orientation and gender identity. That would be highly intrusive and incredibly far-reaching. It will threaten everyday speech/ where people can be fined or lose their jobs for using the wrong name or pronouns.
- The Equality Act will legislate that we allow boys in girls’ sports, boys in girls’ locker rooms, men in women’s shelters, and men in women’s prisons. It will force teachers and students to publicly pretend that a biological male is a female. Schools will be encouraged or mandated to instruct first, second, and third graders that they can choose to be a boy or a girl, or neither, or both, making biological sex (and science) a relic of the past.
- The Equality Act will use the force of law across all 50 states to strip Christian and other religious ministries of their right to hire people of shared faith to pursue a shared mission. Can you imagine a Christian organization being forced to hire people hostile to its deeply held beliefs who have no passion for its beliefs, teachings, and mission? That doesn’t work.
- The Equality Act will strip health professionals of their rights of conscience. It will force doctors and medical professionals who long to do no harm to engage in gender transition treatments such as hormone-blocking, cross-sex hormones, or surgery. It is obvious that a Catholic or faith-based hospital should not have to perform gender transition surgeries that go entirely against all they believe.
- The Equality Act will be a tool used by the government to deny or threaten accreditation to religious colleges and universities if they do not satisfy the demands of the secular Left to apply sexual orientation and gender identity to dorms, sports, places of privacy, and even teachings. The Act could be used as a weapon to threaten the availability of federal student loans and grants to students at certain disfavored religious schools.” End quote
Franklin implores people not to remain silent, as the impact of this legislation is immense.
Phone the United States Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate offices of Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth. Ask them to vote an emphatic NO! to the Equality Act. Time is running out!
