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Biden's final actions as president leave some transgender people feeling unsupported

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Biden's final actions as president leave some transgender people feeling unsupported
News

News

Biden's final actions as president leave some transgender people feeling unsupported

2025-01-03 20:17 Last Updated At:20:21

President Joe Biden began his term in the White House with a broad promise to protect transgender Americans against Republican policies that painted them as a threat to children and sought to push them out of public life.

“Your president has your back,” Biden assured trans people in his first State of the Union address in 2021, and he repeated a version of that statement in subsequent speeches.

But with President-elect Donald Trump days away from taking office after piling on transgender people throughout his campaign, some worry Biden did not do enough to shield them from what's likely to come.

The president-elect has declared that “it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders — male and female," and pledged to sign a series of executive orders targeting trans people early in his presidency.

Biden and Democrats, meanwhile, are grappling with how to handle transgender politics after the GOP used Democrats' support for the trans community to win back the White House and control of Congress. Vice President Kamala Harris rarely mentioned transgender people during her campaign, but Trump's campaign cited previous Harris statements to argue relentlessly to swing voters that she was focused on trans issues rather than the economy.

Democrats will not soon forget the punchline of a Trump ad that became ubiquitous by Election Day: “Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.”

In his last full month in office, Biden scrapped pending plans to provide protections for transgender student-athletes and signed a bill that includes language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for the children of service members.

His actions follow a common strategy in which the outgoing administration rushes through policies or abandons unfinished regulations to prevent the incoming president from retooling them to more quickly advance his own agenda. But some trans people question why Biden let plans that might have better protected them from Trump's policies sit on the back-burner.

“In some ways, the Biden administration has lived up to promises to support trans people, but not nearly to the degree that they could have, nor to what is equal to the current anti-trans onslaught," Imara Jones, a transgender woman who created “The Anti-Trans Hate Machine” podcast, told The Associated Press.

Biden named trans people to influential positions across his administration, she noted. He overturned a Trump-era ban on trans people serving in the military and made it possible for U.S. citizens who do not identify as male or female to select an “X” as the gender marker on their passports.

“Under President Biden’s leadership, we have remedied historical injustices and advanced equality for the community, but there is more work to do, and we hope that work continues after he leaves office," said White House spokesperson Kelly Scully.

The Justice Department under Biden also challenged state laws in Tennessee and Alabama that banned gender-affirming medical care for trans youth, and it filed statements of interest in other cases.

“But major gaps were both opened and remain," Jones said. "The administration failed to follow through on Title IX, failed to defend trans health care and failed to adequately address anti-trans violence. The list goes on. Even now, the administration could be putting in place measures to help safeguard the trans community, at least temporarily.”

Some LGBTQ+ advocates have accused Biden of abandoning the transgender community after he signed into law the annual defense bill despite his objections to a provision preventing the military’s health program from covering certain medical treatments for transgender children in military families.

The nation’s largest organization of LGBTQ+ service members and veterans said Biden’s decision to sign the bill is "in direct opposition to claims that his administration is the most pro-LGBTQ+ in American history.”

Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said it's the first federal law targeting LGBTQ+ people since the 1990s, when Congress adopted the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, signed it into law, a decision he later said he regretted.

The restriction comes as at least 26 states have adopted laws banning or limiting gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, though most face lawsuits. Federal judges have struck down the bans in Arkansas and Florida as unconstitutional, but a federal appeals court has stayed the Florida ruling. A judge’s order is in place temporarily blocking enforcement of a ban in Montana.

Twenty-five states have laws on the books barring trans women and girls from competing in certain women’s sports competitions. Judges have temporarily blocked the enforcement of bans in Arizona, Idaho and Utah.

When Biden in 2023 introduced his now-abandoned proposal to forbid outright bans on transgender student-athletes, trans rights advocates were dissatisfied, saying it left room for individual schools to prevent some athletes from playing on teams consistent with their gender identity.

The sports proposal, meant as a follow-up to a broader rule that extended civil rights protections to LGBTQ+ students under Title IX, was then delayed several times.

The delays from Biden were widely viewed as a political maneuver during an election year as Republicans generated outcry about trans athletes in girls' sports. Had the rule been finalized, it would likely have faced conservative legal challenges like those that prevented the broader Title IX policy from taking effect in dozens of states.

FILE - President Joe Biden signs an Executive Order reversing the Trump era ban on transgender individuals serving in military, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - President Joe Biden signs an Executive Order reversing the Trump era ban on transgender individuals serving in military, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

President Joe Biden speaks about the latest developments in New Orleans and Las Vegas during an event in the State Dining Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Joe Biden speaks about the latest developments in New Orleans and Las Vegas during an event in the State Dining Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Two days after sending the economy reeling by announcing widespread tariffs, President Donald Trump insisted his trade policies will never change as he remained ensconced in a bubble of wealth and power in Florida.

He woke up on Friday morning at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, and headed to his nearby golf course a few miles away after writing on social media that “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH."

Several supporters stood on the sidewalk as Trump, wearing his signature red “Make America Great Again” hat and white polo shirt, glided down a street lined with palm trees. They waved to him and he waved back, part of a ritual that plays out every weekend that he's in town.

The Republican president was not expected to appear publicly, although he's scheduled to attend a candlelit dinner for MAGA Inc., an allied political organization, on Friday evening. He spent Thursday in Miami at a different one of his golf courses, where he attended a Saudi-funded tournament. He landed in Marine One and was picked up in a golf cart driven by his son Eric.

Trump has often proved impervious to the kind of scandals or gaffes that would damage another politician, but his decision to spend the weekend at his gilded properties could test Americans' patience at a time when their retirement savings are evaporating along with the stock market. The tariffs are expected to increase prices by thousands of dollars per year and slow economic growth, and there are fears about a potential recession.

Democrats called out Trump for being in a “billionaire bubble," as Sen. Chuck Schumer put it, while millions watched their investments sink.

“While the American people are trying to put food on the table, I see that Donald Trump’s out there playing golf,” said Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat from New Mexico. “The president should be listening to people across the country. Maybe he should go into a grocery store, do some walking, talking to folks.”

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that the tariffs were “significantly larger than expected” and are “highly likely” to cause more inflation — at least in the short term but possibly in the long term as well.

However, Trump has described his policies as a painful yet necessary step to encourage companies to relocate their operations to the United States. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Tucker Carlson in an interview released Friday that “I think we have to try this, and I have a high confidence ratio it’s going to work."

The president spent Friday morning defending himself on Truth Social, his social media platform, and vowing to stay the course.

“TO THE MANY INVESTORS COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES AND INVESTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF MONEY, MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE,” he wrote.

Although experts have harshly criticized the tariffs, he's found some support on TikTok. He shared a video that said “Trump is crashing the stock market” and “he’s doing it on purpose” as part of a “secret game he’s playing, and it could make you rich.”

The video featured a supposed quote from legendary investor Warren Buffett praising Trump, but Buffett's company issued a statement saying it was fabricated. The video also said that Trump's goal is to push the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, something that the president explicitly called for later in the morning.

“This would be a PERFECT time" for Powell to cut interest rates, he wrote. “CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!”

With foreign leaders scrambling in response to Trump's announcement this week, the president lashed out and looked to cut deals.

He said he spoke with Vietnamese leader To Lam and claimed Vietnam wants to eliminate its tariffs on U.S. goods if it can make a deal with the U.S.

He also criticized China for announcing its own tariffs on U.S. imports.

“CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED - THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!” he wrote.

Republicans suggested that Trump's policies would be the start of a parley with foreign countries.

“The president is a dealmaker if nothing else, and he’s going to continue to deal country by country with each of them,” said Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming. He added that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had told Senate Republicans this week that the tariffs would be a “high level mark with the ultimate goal of getting them reduced” unless other countries retaliate.

Meanwhile, Trump also celebrated a new report showing the U.S. added 228,000 jobs in March, beating expectations. Although the numbers were a snapshot of the economy before the tariff announcement, Trump claimed vindication, saying they already show his moves are working.

“HANG TOUGH," he wrote. "WE CAN’T LOSE!!!”

Megerian and Groves reported from Washington.

President Donald Trump, driven by his son Eric Trump, arrives at Trump National Doral during the LIV Golf Miami tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump, driven by his son Eric Trump, arrives at Trump National Doral during the LIV Golf Miami tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump, driven by his son Eric Trump, arrives at Trump National Doral during the LIV Golf Miami tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump, driven by his son Eric Trump, arrives at Trump National Doral during the LIV Golf Miami tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the Trump International Golf Club, Friday, April 4, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the Trump International Golf Club, Friday, April 4, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump, driven by his son Eric Trump, arrives at Trump National Doral during the LIV Golf Miami tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump, driven by his son Eric Trump, arrives at Trump National Doral during the LIV Golf Miami tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Flags brought by supporters wave in the breeze before President Donald Trump arrives at the Trump International Golf Club, Friday, April 4, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Flags brought by supporters wave in the breeze before President Donald Trump arrives at the Trump International Golf Club, Friday, April 4, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the Trump International Golf Club, Friday, April 4, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the Trump International Golf Club, Friday, April 4, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump arrives at the Trump International Golf Club, Friday, April 4, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump arrives at the Trump International Golf Club, Friday, April 4, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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