In a statement highlighting his government’s efforts to advance the rights of transgender people and fight back against vile anti-LGBT state laws, President Joe Biden honored Sunday’s Transgender Day of Visibility on Friday.
We applaud the incredible courage and contributions of trans Americans and reiterate our country’s commitment to creating a more ideal union, where all people are created equal and treated similarly throughout their life, wrote Biden.
The president praised his enactment of “historic executive orders that strengthen civil rights protections in cover, employment, health care, education, the justice system, and more” and his filing of the Respect for Marriage Act, which guarantees” that every American can married the person they love. I am glad to have appointed trans leaders to my management.
Biden then cited the “extremists are proposing hundreds of hateful laws that target and terrify transgender children and their families,” including threats to parents, doctors, and nurses with prison for helping parents get care for their children.
These bills “attack our most fundamental American values: the right to raise your own child, the right to be yourself, and the freedom to choose your own health care,” he wrote. It should come as no surprise that half of transgender youth have considered suicide in the past year due to the bullying and discrimination that transgender Americans face.
” At the same time, an epidemic of violence against transgender women and girls, especially women and girls of color, continues to take too many lives”, Biden said. Let me be clear that these attacks must stop because they are un-American. No one should have to be brave just to be themselves”.
The president then described how the Biden- Harris administration is retaliating.
The Department of Justice is working with law enforcement and community groups to combat hate and violence, he said, and it has taken action to fight against extreme, un-American state laws that target transgender youth and their families.
Any LGBTQI+ young person in need can dial’ 988′ and press ‘ 3 to speak with a counselor trained to support them, and my administration is also providing dedicated emergency mental health support through our nationwide suicide and crisis lifeline.
Additionally, Biden said,” We are making public services more accessible for transgender Americans, including with more inclusive passports and easier access to Social Security benefits”.
Yet,” There is much more to do. I continue to call on Congress to pass the Equality Act to codify all civil rights protections for LGBTQI+ Americans.
He concluded the statement by pledging that” Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans: You are loved. You are heard. You are understood. You belong. You are America, and my entire administration and I have your back”.
” I urge all Americans to join us in promoting the rights and voices of transgender people throughout our country and to work toward eradicating gender-based violence and discrimination,” he said.
