Former president Donald Trump said he would reverse the Biden administration’s recently-announced Title IX protections for transgender students “on day one” if he is re-elected for a second term later this year.
Trump’s remarks, which he made on the “Kayal and Company” radio show based in Philadelphia, referred to new regulations stipulating that Title IX bars discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
“It’s crazy. We’re gonna end it on day one,” Trump said. “Don’t forget, that was done as an order from the president. That came down as an executive order. And we’re gonna change it — on day one it’s gonna be changed.”
In incoherent, rambling remarks, Trump went on to add that the Biden administration’s policy would “be terminated.”
“It’s like men playing in women’s sports,” he said. “It’s like open borders for the world to come in…”
The former president voiced the comments after posting a video on Truth Social in which he outlined a multi-pronged policy platform aimed at curtailing trans rights, including a nationwide ban on gender-affirming care. He also called for the Justice Department to investigate drugmakers and hospitals to probe whether they “deliberately covered up horrific long-term side effects of sex transitions in order to get rich.”
Trump also called for federal policies that only recognize two genders.
“No serious country should be telling its children that they were born with the wrong gender,” Trump said.
The Trump campaign’s platform comes as little surprise given the former president’s record on LGBTQ issues. As president, Trump rolled back LGBTQ health protections, banned trans troops from the military, used his Justice Department to take legal action against transgender student-athletes, and stacked his cabinet with anti-LGBTQ figures ranging from Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who fought against LGBTQ rights in schools, to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, sought to give shelters a right to reject admission to transgender individuals.
Trump and Biden have been engaged in a close race for the presidency ahead of November’s general election contest. Trump has maintained an edge over Biden in the top battlegrounds of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, according to Real Clear Politics’ average of the polls in those states.
A poll released by GLAAD in March found that 94% of LGBTQ registered voters were expected to vote this year — with 68% supporting Biden and 15% backing Trump. Looking specifically at battleground states, however, 72% of LGBTQ voters were for Biden.
The Biden-Harris campaign, meanwhile, rolled out “Out for Biden,” a new initiative to mobilize LGBTQ voters with get-out-the-vote campaigns, virtual calls, and events with celebrities, leaders, and others.
