Biden gender equality order rankles religious conservatives

President Biden on Wednesday announced an executive order confirming religious conservatives’ fears that he will undo Trump-era exemptions to gender identity nondiscrimination laws.

The order, released in a blast of 17 directives aimed at undoing former President Donald Trump’s policies, requires all entities under federal control to forgo discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Referencing the landmark Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County, which interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to protect gay and transgender people in the workplace, Biden’s team said his executive order would enforce that ruling on the government.