The Trump Administration’s Hate is Too Late: There is No Reversing Transgender Rights

In response to The New York Times article Transgender’ Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration published on October 21, Rea Carey, executive director of The National LGBTQ Task Force’s stated:

“Trump is too late. We are not going back to a time when transgender people were in the closet, were ignored, or excluded. As a society and as a community, we have already moved on. We are here and not going anywhere. The National LGBTQ Task Force is fighting Trump’s heartless, extremist, and transparent political attack on millions of Americans.

The courts, science, medicine, and civil and human rights leaders are united in the definition of gender, sex, gender identity, gender expression, and gender discrimination –– no matter what Trump and his administration says or does. Transgender people are our teachers, doctors, veterinarians, veterans, business owners, clergy, children, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends. Transgender and gender non-conforming people are people, and no re-writing of the rules can delete us.

If Trump and the other narrow-minded bigots in the administration were to have their way, these new rules would impact nearly every segment of our society. This is an attempt to roll back civil rights. Anyone who does not conform to rigid gender stereotypes could be at risk. Everyone deserves rights and protection. No exclusions. It is disgusting that leaders who are paid by the people of the United States of America would be using our tax dollars to purposefully deny anyone in our nation rights and protections. The rules being proposed are vile, politically motivated, and discriminatory.

Dehumanizing those you do not like is the hallmark of an authoritarian government. The Trump administration’s cruelty only further unites the voices of progress. We have the law on our side, we have the medical community on our side, we have morality on our side, we have decency on our side. Most of all, we have an incredibly resilient transgender community leading us towards inclusion, justice, and equality for all. The National LGBTQ Task Force will do everything in our power to fight these proposed rule changes. We will not back down.”

The National LGBTQ Task Force works to secure full freedom, justice, equality, and equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. For over forty years, we have been at the forefront of the social justice movement by training thousands of organizers and advocating for change at the federal, state, and local level. www.thetaskforce.org