Men who identify as women will be included in “The Biden Plan to End Violence Against Women,” says Joe Biden’s campaign website.

Biden introduces his plan by taking credit for the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, which did not include transgender “women” as beneficiaries:

One of the driving forces throughout Joe Biden’s career has been fighting back against abuses of power – whether economic or physical power. That force motivated him to write and champion the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, establish the first-ever White House Advisor on Violence Against Women during the Obama-Biden Administration, and launch a national campaign to change the culture surrounding campus rape and sexual assault.

The LGBT angle was added later, according to the website:

Since 1994, Biden has led efforts to ensure Congress passed legislation renewing and strengthening the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) three times: in 2000, 2005, and 2013. Each time, the VAWA reauthorization has upped the ante and ensured that especially vulnerable communities – from Native women to LGBTQ individuals – are included in the Act.

But as a presidential candidate, Biden has expanded the definition of abused “women” to be even broader, including backing legislation to codify that definition: 

As a direct response to the high rates of homicides of transgender people – particularly transgender women of color – the Biden Administration will push to provide federal funding for local efforts to meet the needs of transgender communities, including employment assistance, housing assistance, leadership development, and other priorities identified by local communities. Specifically, Biden will work to pass the Equality Act, to reduce economic barriers and social stigma, and the LGBTQ Essential Data Act, which would help collect a wide variety of critical data about anti-trans violence and the factors that drive it. He will also direct his Administration to update the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports Supplementary Homicide Reports (UCR-SHR) to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Currently, theses reports do not include categories for sexual orientation and gender identity, hampering our ability to fully diagnose and measure the extent of violent crimes against transgender, gay, lesbian, and bisexual victims.

Biden’s plan would increase federal funding across the board, including to restore U.S. funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which President Donald Trump suspended because of the fund’s support for abortion under the guise of “reproductive rights.”

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