President Joe Biden recently signed a string of executive orders to undo Trump-era Title IX policies, address gender equity, and combat voter suppression.
On International Women’s Day, Biden established the White House Gender Policy Council, which will work across executive departments and agencies to advance gender equity and equality in the country. The council will be co-chaired by Brown University School of Public Health advisory council member, Jennifer Klien, and FLOTUS chief of staff and former U.S. ambassador to Uruguay, Julissa Reynoso.
“We are very inclusive in our definition of gender,” Klein said during a White House press briefing on Monday. “We intend to address all sorts of discrimination and fight for equal rights for people, whether that’s LGBTQ+ people, women, girls, men.”
Twelve years ago, former President Barack Obama created a similar group called the White House Council on Women and Girls that was eventually dissolved during Trump’s administration.
Tune in for a briefing with Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Julissa Reynoso, and Jennifer Klein. https://t.co/cYvTn7E7pq
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 8, 2021
The second decree Biden signed on Monday orders the Department of Education to review all its current policies regarding Title IX to guarantee educational environments are free of sexual violence and gender discrimination.
Higher education faced extreme challenges with Title IX regulations during the Trump administration. INSIGHT previously spoke with Title IX experts on how to navigate changes on the matter.
To commemorate the 56th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, Biden also signed an executive order that restores voting rights, particularly for people of color and individuals with disabilities. Bloody Sunday is the day where approximately 600 protesters, led by the late Rep. John Lewis, marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, to stand up for voting rights and were met with police brutality.
During a press statement, Biden says state lawmakers have made an “all-out assault on the right to vote” during this current legislative season with more than 250 voter suppression bills have been introduced across the country.
