Biden Embraces the Woke War on Women

By Aaron Kliegman It only took a few hours in office for President Joe Biden to show how woke he is. Shortly after the inauguration on Wednesday, Biden signed a slew of executive orders, one of which should be of particular concern to women. The order is well intentioned, meant to prevent and combat “discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.” But as with many well-intentioned policies, there are damaging results — in this case, the erosion and delegitimization of women’s sports. Specifically, any educational institution that receives federal funding must, per the order, allow biologically male athletes who identify as female to compete on women’s sports teams and be eligible for women’s scholarships. Consider what the executive order actually states: that laws that prohibit sex-based discrimination, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, also “prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, so long as the laws do not contain sufficient indications to the contrary.” The order then says that agencies of the executive branch must take whatever actions are necessary to implement statutes that prevent discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. So, according to the order, transgender people, who choose which gender they identify as regardless of their biological sex, fall under Title IX’s requirements. It’s right there in the text. As a reminder, Title IX forbids sex-based discrimination in any educational institution that receives federal money. Most famously, the law requires schools to provide male and female athletes equal opportunities to participate in sports. It also requires schools to give male and female athletes scholarship money proportional to their participation. We can conclude, therefore, that if a biological man identifies as a woman for whatever reason — making her a transgender woman based on her “gender identity” as opposed to her sex — then she must be allowed to compete in women’s sports and be eligible for women’s scholarships, protected by Title IX. There’s no other reasonable way to interpret Biden’s executive order. And for those who still doubt this is what the order does, just read the second complete sentence of the document: “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.” Clearly, this order allows transgender women — who may have male genitalia and musculature — to participate in women’s athletics. And now any schools that receive federal funds can’t do anything about it. Otherwise, they risk violating federal law and will be accused of discrimination by the government — even if they’re only concerned about the integrity of the competition. Such policies risk ruining women’s sports. Just look at the case of Cece (formerly Craig) Telfer. A trans woman, Cece easily won the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2019. But prior to joining the women’s team that season, Telfer competed on the men’s side and was ranked 390th in the same race in 2017. From 390th to 1st, with a year off in between to transition to a female. Such stories undermine the essence of athletic competition. Critics will note that Telfer didn’t win every race she entered on the women’s team. But she still qualified for the national championships and was competitive in multiple races, placing exponentially higher than she would have against men. A transgender woman doesn’t have to win every single race or game or fight to show the inherent problems of allowing biological men to compete against women. And celebrating this trend politically and culturally will only make the issue more pervasive. But this problem is about more than just sports. The woke, progressive left, which apparently includes the Biden administration, claims to seek social justice for those it deems oppressed peoples, including women. But in pushing trans rights, the left actually undermines its efforts to support women — a point often made powerfully by the British writer Douglas Murray. The feminist movement encouraged women to take pride in being women, to be confident, comfortable, and united. Think about the slogan “girl power.” But if gender is simply a social construct that anyone can morph as they see fit, then what is womanhood? According to the woke media, nothing more than a uterus. In fact, last year CNN refused to use the word “women,” opting instead for “individuals with a cervix.” And the website Devex used the phrase “people who menstruate.” So much for celebrating womanhood. Feminism also sought to liberate women from the expectation that they needed to act and behave in certain ways, confined by antiquated stereotypes. Here, too, the trans lobby directly contradicts the push for female empowerment. To understand how, consider the classic tomboy: a girl who acts like a stereotypical boy. Maybe she has short hair or loves sports or prefers playing with fire trucks over dolls. Whatever the case, the trans argument is that this tomboy is actually a boy in a female body — when, in reality, she’s in all likelihood an ordinary girl who will grow up to be an ordinary woman. There’s not really room for effeminate men or “manly” women in the trans movement. Women are a certain way, men are a certain way, and there’s little to no room for crossover. How progressive. That the trans movement conflicts with the feminist movement is something the political left must face. To be clear, if a man wants to become a woman or a woman wants to become a man, that’s their business. They can identify however they want. (And I’m even happy to use their preferred pronoun.) But the government and cultural elites shouldn’t be forcing the American people to change what they’ve always known to be basic truths about biology and the sexes. And they certainly shouldn’t be doing so in a way that’s damaging to women, including girls competing on the ballfield, soccer pitch, or track. Yet, President Biden and his administration seem poised to wage the far left’s cultural wars. That’s not a good sign for unity. Nor is it a good sign for the feminist movement. Someone should tell the first lady.

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