This is probably scary:
The Trump transition team instructed the State Department to turn over all information Wednesday about “gender-related staffing, programming, and funding,” setting off alarm bells among those who fear that the new administration is going to purge programs that promote women’s equality along with the people who work on them.
I guess it could be the reverse: Trump might wish to work to promote women's equality all over the globe? Well, a goddess can always dream.
What are these gender-related issues in the State Department?
Advocating for women and girls abroad was a major focus of Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. Clinton raised the priority of women’s and gender issues at the State Department, for example, by making the Office of Global Women’s Issues part of her personal staff. That office spearheaded several programs to promote and protect women in oppressive countries, such as the Women, Peace and Security initiative, which was based on the argument that increased security for women can contribute to overall peace and security, and vice versa.
The U.S. government’s attention to the plight of women and girls abroad continued after Clinton left office. The House voted unanimously to pass the Women, Peace and Security Act just last month, which was meant to make the State Department’s initiative permanent.
In March, Kerry announced a national strategy to promote the protection of adolescent girls around the world from things such as forced marriage, genital cutting, sexual violence and denial of access to education.
“We are here, all of us, every single one of us, because we believe … that equitable treatment of women and girls is and always must be a core tenet of America’s global leadership,” he said.
Why on earth would grab-the-pussies-Trump or forced-birth-Pence be opposed to fighting against forced marriage, genital cutting, sexual violence and denial of access to the education? Perhaps I shall be pleasantly surprised and the programs described above will be continued?
On the other hand, the Trump administration may think that each country should be allowed to oppress women as the rulers of those countries wish. Or forced-birth Pence may be trying to sniff out any baby-killing initiatives.
Trump's transitioning team is not making these lists for the purpose of Christmas gifting, nope. What are they for, then?
Most likely for the demolition of those programs, and as the linked article states, that will hurt a lot of women and girl around the world.
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Added later: The New York Times offers yet another guess for why Trump's team wants this list:
Some officials said they feared that the incoming Trump administration was trying to determine what programs were focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, though the memo did not refer to them.