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Biden Admin. Slammed for Giving a ‘Women of Courage Award’ to Transgender Woman

Several prominent conservative women on Wednesday criticized the Biden administration after it gave an International Women of Courage Award to an Argentinian official who is biologically male but identifies as female.

“It’s International Women’s Day – a good time to remember that Democrats can’t even tell you what a woman is,” tweeted Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican.

First Lady Jill Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken presented the award during a White House ceremony on International Women’s Day that honored 11 “extraordinary women from around the world who are working to build a brighter future for all,” according to a State Department news release. The award is in its 17th year. 

One of the recipients, Alba Rueda of Argentina, is a transgender woman who serves as Argentina’s Special Envoy for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Rueda was the “driving force” behind an executive order by Argentina’s president that requires 1 percent of all public sector jobs be filled by transgender individuals, the State Department said.  

“She is one of the founders of Argentina Trans Women (MTA) and actively engages with Notitrans, the first transgender magazine in Argentina,” the State Department said. “She actively campaigned to change the name of the National Women’s Conference to the ‘Plurinational Conference of Women and Lesbian, Cross-Dresser, Transgender, Bisexual, Intersex and Non-Binary Persons’ to include diverse, dissident, and racialized identities.”

Women in the conservative realm criticized the Biden administration. 

“The world has 3.9 billion women. On #InternationalWomensDay, The Biden Administration gave a man the women of courage award,” tweeted Emilie Kao, senior counsel and vice president of advocacy strategy for Alliance Defending Freedom. “What message does this send to the women of the world? #sexnotgender.” 

“The Biden Administration is giving a women’s award to a man on International Women’s Day,” Concerned Women for America tweeted. “They must think men are better at everything, including [being] a woman.”

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Anna Moneymaker/Staff


Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chroniclethe Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

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