Biden Signs Exec Order to Protect Trans Youth From Anti-Trans State Laws

[Carolyn Marie]

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/15/joe-biden-texas-transgender-care/

 

 

The R states which have enacted the anti-trans legislation and regulations will fight this in court.  Hopefully, our side will win.

 

Carolyn Marie

[Carolyn Marie]

Here's the text of the EO, for those with long attention spans and lots of free time.  😁

 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/06/15/executive-order-on-advancing-equality-for-lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer-and-intersex-individuals/

 

Carolyn Marie

[VickySGV]

 I am coming to think the laws are not actually aimed at us (the states deny we exist) but are push-back on Biden.  I would normally be thrilled with Presidential support, but the matter just smells of a target against him, which includes us.   Our side bears it share of the load too, but as one person is reported as saying "God be gentle to my enemies and protect me from my allies."

[Ivy]

7 minutes ago, Cyndee said:

Executive orders are the first thing to get wiped clean when the regime changes.

Exactly.

This will mean nothing when the Republicans take power. (which seems inevitable at this point)

 

6 hours ago, VickySGV said:

the matter just smells of a target against him, which includes us.

This is probably a big part of it.  However the effects on the state level are real enough.

 

I think transgender health care has been painted as "controversial" to much of the public - who have no understanding of it.  It's the XX or XY thing, right?

 

I think expecting help from the courts might be wishful thinking.  I'm sure the red states will appeal to the Supreme Court and….  yeah.

 

So yeah, there is a target on my back.

 

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer.

 

[Marcie Jensen]

@Jandi, you make some excellent points; especially about the "controversial" thing and about red states appealing to SCOTUS.

I agree with you about the GOP taking over. All I can say is to quote Bill Clinton from the 1990s, "It's the economy..." The plain truth is that people will always vote based on their wallets; regardless of the consequences. The last time I saw inflation like what we have now was back in the 1970s when I was a teen. That cost the Democrats dearly, and it seems they haven't learned anything from that. This is not good for the LGBTQ+ community in general trans-people specifically or any other minorities, sadly. 

[miz miranda]

Executive orders have become a  convenient way to avoid controversial legislation that 'could' impact reelection chances for either political party. By design, they can only be overturned by another executive order. Thus they have become a political football for the agenda of each presidential administration. IMO, they have become political 'virtue signalling' rather than a substantive solution even when well intended. Like any tool they can be used to damage or repair. It bears remembering that Franklin Roosevelt used an executive order to institute Internment Camps for Japanese during WW2.

 

Here is a link to ABA website education about executive orders:

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/publications/teaching-legal-docs/what-is-an-executive-order-/

 

Also, here is an interesting link about the volume of orders from each president as well as a lot of other useful facts:

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/executive-orders

 

 

State laws interfering with medical treatments are hideous. Conversion therapy is inhuman and should be viewed as torture.

 

@VickySGVI agree with your thought these many of these recent laws are vile attempts of political posturing. Given that we represent a fairly small voting block, neither party really cares about how these issues affect us rather they exploit the suffering for their political positioning.

 

@Marcie JensenI cannot fault someone for voting based on how the economy impacts them. The hard truth is those with less resources (opportunities, life skills, etc) are far more impacted by an economic downturn and they feel the impact for significantly longer as well. Having started my career in the mid 70s, I recall gas going from 32 cents per gallon to nearly $3. Mortgage rates as high as 17%. My first house in 1982 had a mortgage of 10.4% and my first car had an interest rate at 7%. I was extremely fortunate to have found work in the wireless industry which paid well above average and employment was virtually guaranteed for the next 20 years. We could not afford to have a vacation for 7 years.

 

All of our current infrastructure problems will be exacerbated by a weak economy; affordable housing, education, health care, etc...

 

I voted for Biden or rather voted against Trump. I expected Biden to be highly political and fairly dishonest given his history in the Senate. I never expected him to be as incompetent as Trump. The economy was due to for a weaker period, but it has been made worse by shortsighted actions and irresponsible behavior by self interested politicians for both parties. The real concern is that the quality of the candidates continues to deteriorate ever faster.

 

Sorry for my rant

[awkward-yet-sweet]

I'm definitely no Biden fan.  Not a Trump fan either.  Politics aside, an executive order carries very little weight compared to actual legislation.  States will enforce their laws and the Federal government doesn't have much in the way of recourse. 

 

I've noticed that most lawmaking from either side of the fence is directed at the "extreme" examples.  Most thinking people understand that the unbiased truth is seldom available for publication, and usually occurs somewhere in the middle of the situation rather than on the fringes.

[Marcie Jensen]

Hi everyone. @miz miranda, I couldn't agree more with what you said about the economy as well as your thoughts on our small voting block nature. 

 

You and I started our careers in the same time period--mid 1970s for me too, and I remember all of those price and interest rate hikes. They were a factor in why I joined the Army back then. You are absolutely correct in your assessment of the factors that exacerbate our current inflationary status, and the plain truth is this affects working class folks, the poor and the middle class (what's left of it) more than anyone else. I would also comment that there is a disconnect between folks earning more than $100K/year and the rest of the country. For example, a really good friend who earns a six figure income recently told me that in her opinion, if gas prices were too high, just buy an electric car. In this, she simply ignored the fact that most people can't afoord one, or that people who rent don't have access to a charging station, nor can they have one installed without the landlord's agreement--it's even worse for apartment dwellers. I believe the term for this is out of touch, but I may be wrong.

 

I couldn't vote for either Trump or Biden for a number of reasons. I did not like the Libertarian candidate, and so for the first time since 1976, I didn't vote for a president. And I agree with @awkward-yet-sweet. Executive orders carry very little weight and can be revoked at any time. While I am glad for Mr. Biden's executive order, and it is minor progress, I'm afraid the increasing polarization of both major political parties and the pandering to their respective bases will lead to more of the same. There's an interesting book out there that I would recommend for everyone to read. It's by Canadian journalist Stephen Marche, and titled The Next Civil War. It is sobering, but reflects what could/is happening in the USA right now.

 

Finally, I would say that, Miranda has really hit the nail on the head when she says that neither party cares about us (the trans community) and that the quality of candidates continues to decline.

[Ivy]

27 minutes ago, Marcie Jensen said:

the pandering to their respective bases

I don't think the Democrats are even successful at this.

 

30 minutes ago, Marcie Jensen said:

I would also comment that there is a disconnect between folks earning more than $100K/year and the rest of the country. For example, a really good friend who earns a six figure income recently told me that in her opinion, if gas prices were too high, just buy an electric car. In this, she simply ignored the fact that most people can't afoord one… I believe the term for this is out of touch,

I've come to see voting as choosing the "lesser of two evils".  It's become a matter of survival.

[awkward-yet-sweet]

On 6/17/2022 at 9:08 AM, Jandi said:

I've come to see voting as choosing the "lesser of two evils".  It's become a matter of survival.

 

This is often the case.  Which is a really crappy reality.  I would be quite happy to get rid of the Federal government entirely, as it seems to do a great deal of harm and very little good at a very high cost.  Thankfully, voting at the local level DOES make a difference.  Even though my area is ultra-conservative, usually the voters in my county choose to have limited government and stand up for the rights of the people (which is something neither party seems to be doing).  People CAN make a difference by rejecting both Democrat and Republican politics and just trying to do good, care, and give peace a chance.🕊️☮️ 

 

 

[Heather Nicole]

Although I don't really identify as democrat, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". Despite any and all issues I fully recognize about the left, today's GQP literally is the American Fascism Party and is about one mid-term election away from solidifying their own real-world recreation of late-1930's Germany. I'm not being hyperbolic.

[Heather Nicole]

6 minutes ago, Heather Nicole said:

Although I don't really identify as democrat, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". Despite any and all issues I fully recognize about the left, today's GQP literally is the American Fascism Party and is about one mid-term election away from solidifying their own real-world recreation of late-1930's Germany. I'm not being hyperbolic.

 

And it's all enabled by centrist apathy, just like it was in Germany.

[Ivy]

7 hours ago, Heather Nicole said:

…today's GQP literally is the American Fascism Party and is about one mid-term election away from solidifying their own real-world recreation of late-1930's Germany.

I had been a conservative for a good part of my life.  Of course a lot of my views have changed in the past 10 yrs or so.  As someone interested in the history of that era, I don't think you're being hyperbolic at all.  Too many people (who should know better) have the attitude of "It can't happen here" when we are literally watching the fascist playbook being played out in front of us.

 

[awkward-yet-sweet]

Fascism isn't "playing out."  It is already here, and has been for a long time.  What lulls people into a sense of false security is the continuing of superficial debate and multiple political parties.  One definition of fascism is that government and corporations work hand-in-hand, exerting dictatorial control over the people.  We've definitely seen that happening, especially in the rise of the military-industrial complex post WW2 and the rise of big tech more recently.  I would argue we've lived under an incremental creep toward fascism since the 50's, and nearly completed fascism since 2001. 

 

Notice how hard it is to dissent?  Doesn't matter if you're on the right or the left, step out-of-bounds and you're gonna get canceled, hammered, or disappeared.  The left sees the right as a threat, and correctly.  The right sees the left as a threat, and correctly.  The parties are a problem, and the left-right paradigm is a problem.  Both sides have part of the truth, neither side has it all....and what they do have, individual politicians twist in a perverse attempt to gain personal advantage.  The elites always benefit, the common people always suffer.  We're getting close to the prediction of "a boot stamping on the human face forever." 

 

Alexander Fraser Tytler's idea of the cycle of civilization explains it somewhat. 

 

 

[Marcie Jensen]

15 hours ago, awkward-yet-sweet said:

 

This is often the case.  Which is a really crappy reality.  I would be quite happy to get rid of the Federal government entirely, as it seems to do a great deal of harm and very little good at a very high cost.  Thankfully, voting at the local level DOES make a difference.  Even though my area is ultra-conservative, usually the voters in my county choose to have limited government and stand up for the rights of the people (which is something neither party seems to be doing).  People CAN make a difference by rejecting both Democrat and Republican politics and just trying to do good, care, and give peace a chance.🕊️☮️ 

 

 

You just reminded me of something I've done in the past. Several election cycles ago, the district in AZ that I voted in had two candidates (both Republican) that I always voted for just because of the names. There was FLAKE for U.S. Senate and SCHMUCK for the State Legislature. I always voted for them because it was good that they were into truth in advertising--specifically, we had a real FLAKE in the senate and a SCHMUCK in the statehouse. They didn't do much, but hey, with those names I knew what I was getting. 🤣

[Marcie Jensen]

@awkward-yet-sweet, I love your post with the diagram. Your analysis is also spot on. This country is near to being, if not fascist, at least totalitarian. The major parties engage in superficial debate, the press is now merely a propaganda arm of the two major parties--CNN for the left, Fox for the right--and we all suffer as a result. It's interesting to note that the founders were virtually all against the very idea of political parties and wanted a limited federal government. They would be appalled at what we have become.

 

[Heather Nicole]

3 hours ago, awkward-yet-sweet said:

The parties are a problem, and the left-right paradigm is a problem.

 

Hear, hear! 👍

[Confused1]

I think you described it very well @awkward-yet-sweet:

 

On 6/19/2022 at 8:28 AM, awkward-yet-sweet said:

Fascism isn't "playing out."  It is already here, and has been for a long time.  What lulls people into a sense of false security is the continuing of superficial debate and multiple political parties.  One definition of fascism is that government and corporations work hand-in-hand, exerting dictatorial control over the people.  We've definitely seen that happening, especially in the rise of the military-industrial complex post WW2 and the rise of big tech more recently.  I would argue we've lived under an incremental creep toward fascism since the 50's, and nearly completed fascism since 2001. 

 

Notice how hard it is to dissent?  Doesn't matter if you're on the right or the left, step out-of-bounds and you're gonna get canceled, hammered, or disappeared.  The left sees the right as a threat, and correctly.  The right sees the left as a threat, and correctly.  The parties are a problem, and the left-right paradigm is a problem.  Both sides have part of the truth, neither side has it all....and what they do have, individual politicians twist in a perverse attempt to gain personal advantage.  The elites always benefit, the common people always suffer.  We're getting close to the prediction of "a boot stamping on the human face forever." 

 

Alexander Fraser Tytler's idea of the cycle of civilization explains it somewhat.