Biden's first day executive order brings discrimination against our daughters

After watching the inauguration, I was interested and had a spark of hope to see how President Joe Biden was going to unify the nation. It made for a good speech, but in his first week he has taken 40 executive actions, which is more than any president in history. It is ironic after he said last year that to rule by executive order would be governing like a “dictator.”

There is a place for executive actions, but it can be controversial because it cuts out the debate in the legislature with all the stakeholders and some consensus and a vote. Every president has used them, but none to the degree Biden has.

One of the most troubling ones aside from the bills that have caused thousands of job losses was the executive order he signed the first day in office to reportedly prevent and combat “discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.”

He is ordering schools to allow transgender athletes to participate in the sport of their gender identity. So biological males cannot only compete against biological females, but they also have access to their locker rooms and bathrooms. It’s not fair that our biological daughters don’t have safe spaces in the locker rooms.

How is this action unifying? How is this order not pandering to special interest groups instead of working for all Americans? While we want to be compassionate and also encourage transgender people to follow their American dream, how do we do that and not go back decades on women’s rights?

“Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room or school sports,” according to the new order.

In competitions like track or weightlifting, it’s very tough for a biological female to ever beat a transgender biological male and that is not fair competition for women. In 2014, transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox beat biological female opponent Tamika Brents so severely that she suffered a broken skull.

It reminded me of how a friend described “rights” to me when I was young. He said, “You have the right to throw a punch, but at the point where that punch hits someone else’s face, you have impeded on their rights.”

We are taking a step backward against women’s rights. It may be legal now, but as other laws in our history have not been fair, logical or ethical, this one isn’t fair, logical or ethical for our daughters. Women and girls who have spent thousands of hours practicing and competing deserve a fair competition against other biological females. Their American dream deserves protection and support as well as their transgender friends. Biden is sacrificing their protection on the altar of special interest. There has to be a better way to figure this issue out.

Before anyone has the desire to march in my office angry at me for “lying,” please read the executive order on preventing and combating discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-preventing-and-combating-discrimination-on-basis-of-gender-identity-or-sexual-orientation/.

Julie Reeder can be reached by email at [email protected].