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Biden wastes no time shooting down Trump guidelines on LGBTQ rights

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAt first glance, requiring federal agencies to guarantee equal rights for LGBTQ Americans seemed like just a recognition of the status quo. After all, the Supreme Court — in a 6-3 decision by Justice Neil Gorsuch, an appointee of former President Donald Trump — that the labor law banning sex discrimination also prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.But that’s not how the Trump administration saw it. In a memo issued Saturday, the Civil Rights Division of Trump’s Justice Department said the ruling does not allow transgender women to use women’s locker rooms or play on women’s sports teams; would still allow employers to refuse to hire gay, lesbian or transgender applicants for religious reasons; and would apply only to intentional discrimination and not to policies that had harmful impacts on LGBTQ employees or job applicants.Trump’s education secretary, Betsy DeVos, Jan. 8, her last day in office, saying the ruling did not apply to education laws or to a school’s sports teams or locker rooms.It’s not clear why Trump administration officials waited until their last days in office to tell their agencies, in effect, to pay little attention to the Supreme Court’s ruling. But Biden needed only a few hours in office Wednesday to send the opposite message: that the court had issued a landmark decision protecting millions of long-oppressed people and the government would do everything it could to carry it out.More for you“Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room or school sports,” Biden said. “Adults should be able to earn a living and pursue a vocation knowing that they will not be fired, demoted or mistreated because of whom they go home to or because how they dress does not conform to sex-based stereotypes.“People should be able to access health care and secure a roof over their heads without being subjected to sex discrimination,” he continued. “All persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.”While not discussing possible religious exemptions, an issue the court expressly left for future cases, the president said the June 15 decision applied equally to all federal laws prohibiting sex discrimination — including laws on education and housing as well as employment — and must be enforced by all federal agencies.Biden ordered all his agencies to review their policies and regulations, and prepare plans within 100 days to change any discriminatory practices.“We applaud the Biden-Harris administration’s swift action in clarifying that LGBTQ people will be protected from discrimination wherever federal law prohibits discrimination because of sex,” said Sharon McGowan, legal director of the gay-rights group Lambda Legal. “LGBTQ people can now have confidence that the federal government will actually defend, rather than resist, our right to be free from discrimination.”The Trump administration argued against gay rights in major cases, including the Supreme Court case, which involved lawsuits by three workers who were fired after coming out as gay or transgender.In its memo Saturday, Trump’s Justice Department questioned the court’s reasoning, said the ruling “may simply be an aberration,” and found that it was such a departure from past decisions that it should not be applied retroactively — that is, employers who fired or refused to hire LGBTQ employees before the ruling should not have to reimburse them.Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.Separately, the Trump administration issued rules that sought to enable medical providers to deny care to lesbian, gay or transgender patients because of religious or personal objections. Federal courts have blocked some of those rules. Legal challenges are also pending against the former administration’s to immigrants fleeing anti-LGBTQ persecution or domestic violence in their homeland.Trump also banning transgender people from serving openly in the armed forces, reversing an order by former President Barack Obama. The Supreme Court allowed the ban to take effect, but Biden has promised to repeal it in one of his early executive orders.Shannon Minter, legal director of the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights, said the new president’s actions show that his Justice Department will go to bat for LGBTQ people in cases raising important issues of discrimination — a 180-degree shift from his predecessor.Alphonso David, president of the advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, summed up the early view of leaders in the LGBTQ community:“A new day has begun in our nation,” he said.Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAt first glance, requiring federal agencies to guarantee equal rights for LGBTQ Americans seemed like just a recognition of the status quo. After all, the Supreme Court — in a 6-3 decision by Justice Neil Gorsuch, an appointee of former President Donald Trump — that the labor law banning sex discrimination also prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.But that’s not how the Trump administration saw it. In a memo issued Saturday, the Civil Rights Division of Trump’s Justice Department said the ruling...

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Bob Egelko

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Biden wastes no time shooting down Trump guidelines on LGBTQ rights

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