Transgender people and allies react to the Trump-Pence administration's memo on changing the definition of gender.
Editor's note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
The Trump-Pence administration is considering making a dangerous move to change the definition of gender to a biological condition determined by genitalia at birth, according to the New York Times. It would take back decades of movements for LGBTQ+ rights, eradicating government recognition and protection of transgender and non-binary citizens.
There are 1.4 million people in the United States that identify as transgender or non-binary, according to the Williams Institute.
Per the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), transgender means, "an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth," meaning non-binary fits under the transgender umbrella term.
Generally, non-binary means one doesn't feel they fit on the binary spectrum, not identifying as either male nor female, per the National Center for Transgender Equality.
The change is outlined in a draft memo by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to BBC News. It would rescind the Obama administration’s policy that provided a broader definition to the word.
If it gets adopted, it could also exclude transgender Americans from existing protections at the federal level in healthcare, education and employment.
This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has attacked transgender people – a month into President Donald Trump’s presidency, his administration rescinded Obama’s guidance policy that required schools to let students choose what bathroom they were comfortable using.
That was just the start of a long, hard fight for transgender Americans.
In 2016, the Department of Education (DoE) issued a guidance that required schools to let transgender students use the bathroom of their choice, if they wished to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identify.
The current Director of HHS, Roger Severino, has been openly critical of Obama’s past attempts to push civil rights forward for transgender Americans.
After the DoE’s guidance policy on school bathrooms was issued, Severino called it the “culmination of a series of unilateral, and frequently lawless, administration attempts to impose a new definition of what it means to be a man or a woman on the entire nation.”
On July 26, 2017, Trump announced on Twitter that trans people would no longer be allowed to serve in the military, though that directive was blocked by the court.
Protesters cary "resist" signs with the colors of the transgender flag in response to Trump's desire to ban trans soldiers from serving in the military.
People protest in response to Trump's proposal to ban transgender soldiers from serving in the military. The directive was eventually blocked by the court.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed guidance that protected trans workers from discrimination from the workplace in October of 2017, also taking back decades of steps toward civil rights protections for trans people.
“At every step where the administration has had the choice, they’ve opted to turn their back on transgender people,” said Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the HRC, in response to the memo.
Warbelow expressed that transgender people are frightened of the current administration’s desire to erase the very definition of their identity.
HHS has requested that the Departments of Education, Justice and Labor adopt the new definition in regulations to get it accepted by the courts, according to the New York Times.
If adopted, the proposal would be published in the Federal Register where comments from the public would be allowed and viewed before a final rule is issued.
In response to the memo proposal, trans people took to social media where they shared pictures of themselves and their transformations with the hashtag #WontBeErased.
We #WontBeErased, and we won't be forgotten, and we won't be ignored. Today, we worked with local advocates and community members to unfurl a 150-foot trans flag on some of our nation's most visible real estate: the Lincoln Memorial. pic.twitter.com/fkPlQ2m6sm
— National Center for Transgender Equality (@TransEquality) October 29, 2018
Some men wear binders. #WontBeErased #TransPride pic.twitter.com/a3mez4xFJN
— Reese Jackson Mosley (@reese_mosley) October 30, 2018
One out of every 137 teenagers/young adults identify as transgender or non-binary, according to the Williams Institute. That means one out of roughly every 137 students here on campus identify under the transgender umbrella term.
Since the memo proposal was published, Trans Lifeline received four times the number of normal callers, according to the organization's website. Trans Lifeline is a suicide hotline for people who identify as transgender, non-binary or are struggling to find their identity.
You might not know it, but some of your classmates are transgender or non-binary. Some of them are scared for what happens next. If we, as a diverse nation, allow the continuation of these policies to go on, we are letting the current administration take back years of civil rights.
As if it's not enough for the Trump administration to implement policies that are dangerous to LGBTQ+ Americans, Trump has done more to attack trans people in the nearly two years he's been president.
Trump's rhetoric has allowed his followers and others to display a large amount of transphobia in the U.S. - it's the same rhetoric that gets people killed or attacked. This rhetoric is what's caused a rise in suicide or suicide attempts by transgender citizens.
An Oct. 2018 study in Pediatrics found that 50.8 percent of transgender boys, 41.8 percent of non-binary kids and 29.9 percent of transgender girls aged 11-19 had attempted suicide, mainly because of fear. Trump seems all too committed to pushing those numbers up. Suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts among trans people are directly associated with the same discrimination and messages the president puts out.
You don't have to understand the concept of gender identity to support it. But you do have to support it to save lives. It's unfair and unjust that our transgender non-binary acquaintances, friends, colleagues and mentors should be stripped of their identity due to a lack of understanding. It's unfair they must be worried about their identity being legally erased due to blatant transphobia and ignorance.
They will not be erased, not now nor ever. We won't let the Trump administration do that.
