Jen Psaki shuts down loaded questions on trans inclusion with an emphatic ‘trans rights are human rights’
Joe Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki responded to claims LGBT+ rights will harm women. (Getty/Alex Wong)
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has shut down suggestions that enforcing LGBT+ non-discrimination protections will lead to trans athletes taking over women’s sports.
The issue was raised at the White House press briefing on Tuesday (9 February), with a reporter appearing to parrot claims made by conservatives suggesting that Biden’s executive non-discrimination order will disrupt high school sports.
Fox News Radio reporter Rachel Sutherland asked: “What message would the White House have for trans girls and cis girls who may end up competing against each other, in sparking some lawsuits and some concern among parents?
“Does the administration have guidance for schools on dealing with disputes arising over trans girls competing with cis girls?”
Jen Psaki makes clear ‘trans rights are human rights’.
Psaki curtly made clear: “I would just say that the president’s belief is that trans rights are human rights, and that’s why he signed that executive order.
“In terms of determinations by universities and colleges, I certainly defer to them.”
"The president's belief is that trans rights are human rights" — Jen Psaki pic.twitter.com/8VOMcN4XoR
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 9, 2021
Republicans pushing anti-transgender legislation across the US have recently sought to shift the narrative from bathrooms and locker rooms to sports provisions, as lawmakers seek to establish a legal right to discriminate against trans kids in a number of states.
The tactic bears little reflection on reality, where there are close to zero examples of trans women who have achieved significant prowess in women’s sports.
In the eight Olympics in which trans women have been eligible to compete as women, they have won a total of zero gold medals, zero silver medals, and zero bronze medals.
Biden’s stance that children should not be “denied access” to “school sports” is a reversal of the Trump administration stance, with the Trump-era Department of Education accused of effectively extorting schools into implementing policies discriminating against trans children.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki (Getty/Alex Wong)
Former Trump officials have launched attacks over trans issues.
Donald Trump’s former UN ambassador Nikki Haley is among those to launch attacks on the Biden administration over the issue.
Writing for the National Review, she claimed: “In one of his first acts as president, he signed an executive order paving the way for a federal mandate that all schools receiving federal funding let biological men play on women’s sports teams.
“The order was framed as a matter of transgender rights. But really, it was an attack on women’s rights.”
She continued: “If this trend isn’t stopped, the achievements of so many brave women over so many years will be erased. That’s wrong. It’s insulting. And women know it, too… [but] they’re just afraid to speak out, because they know they’ll be silenced and called bigots.”
