Biden Administration’s Proposed Gender Policy Would Define Women Out of Existence

By | September 22, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 23 (C-Fam) According to a draft USAID gender policy, sex is a “designation” that is “assigned” at birth and there are about 40 variations of sex characteristics that “cannot be categorized as male or female.”

The document says, “gender binary” is not based in nature but is “[a] system in which gender is socially constructed into two categories of man or woman.”

The policy makes numerous references to women and girls “in all their diversity,” which is further defined as including the “full range of gender identity and/or gender expression, sex characteristics, [and] sexual orientation.”

The term “women and girls in all their diversity” has been repeatedly proposed by the U.S. and its allies in UN negotiations as a way to subtly inject the controversial issues of sexual orientation and gender identity into General Assembly resolutions.

The draft policy was circulated for a brief comment period, which recently ended; after reviewing the comments, the U.S. agency in charge of international development assistance will release the final version, which will replace the 2020 policy released under the Trump administration.

The Trump-era policy was criticized by abortion and LGBT advocacy groups that accused the administration of being motivated more by politics than “evidence-based best practices.”  They condemned its “binary view of gender” and focus on “unalienable” rights, as opposed to the ever-broadening category of novel “rights” these critics seek to promote.

Trump’s policy in turn replaced the 2012 version instituted under the Obama administration, that was the first of its kind.  Several similar agency-led strategy documents were published during the Obama presidency, many of which are still in effect today, both at USAID and the Department of State.

These policies do not carry the force of law, but they do guide the work of vast U.S. government agencies, and often contain controversial elements that would encounter much stronger scrutiny—and resistance—if they were proposed in legislation.  Instead, they have proven to be an effective tool, especially under Democratic administrations, for agencies to write their own mandates and for Democratic presidents to continue to guide the work of the government long after their terms have ended.

The Biden administration has elevated issues of sexual orientation and gender identity to one of its highest priorities throughout the entire government.  Oddly, the gender policies under Obama and Trump were more similar than the evolving gender policies under Biden. Obama and Trump policy still adhered to the man-woman binary. In contrast, under Biden, the policy directs USAID to the cutting edge of gender ideology, using the words “women” and “girls” while simultaneously defining them out of existence through the annex containing its glossary of terms.

Since its first iteration, this policy laid out the USAID strategy specific to women and girls and “female empowerment.”  The new draft shifts its focus strongly toward the advancement of LGBT issues, despite the fact that USAID has an entire separate policy document on that topic—which was published in 2014 under Obama and left untouched under Trump.  According to an interagency report published earlier this year documenting the Biden administration’s work to promote its LGBTQ+ agenda, this LGBT-specific strategy document is also undergoing an update and revision.

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