Surprise surprise, the Trump Administration has found a new target to attack, and this might be one of the most dangerous. Transgender people are in serious danger of being erased and it is our job as allies to fight with and for them.
The Trump administration released a memo in which they stated that they want to “narrow down” the meaning of gender and define it as biological and determined by genitalia at birth. In short terms this would essentially make the words sex and gender synonymous. Which they are not.
Somebody’s sex is defined biologically based on your chromosomes, so whether you’re XX (female) or XY (male). However, gender is a social construct in which people choose to identify themselves as man, woman, non-binary or all other genders that are also recognized. Along with gender, come pronouns like, she/hers, he/his, they/them, ze/zir, etc.
To make the two terms synonymous would eradicate the recognition of millions of Americans who identify as transgender. Especially when this new definition would make it nearly impossible for people to change their gender identity if they wanted to.
Trans people have it hard as it already is. Many folks struggle when changing their gender marker on legal documents and if this new definition is accepted people would have to go through even harder processes that include genetic testing. It would also severely impact many of the social spaces for trans people.
One of the biggest battlegrounds this will be seen in is school environments. More specifically, spaces like bathrooms and locker rooms where most controversy has lied the past couple of years. Situations like this could raise the risk of trans lives especially the lives of younger trans folks. But, it’s not just schools. This would affect prison placement as well as medical treatments for those who receive Medicaid.
This is a blatant attack at a group of people and it’s sickening. Conservatives have never really been good at subtlety though. This should anger everybody who has even an ounce of an empathetic bone in their body. We need to fight and stand up and alongside our trans brothers and sisters to protect them from the dangers this administration has placed on them.
Here are 7 organizations you can support:
- The National Center For Transgender Equality
- The Trans Justice Funding Project
- Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund
- The Trans Women of Color Collective
- The Sylvia Rivera Law Project
- Trans Student Educational Resources
- Tranzmission
Donate if you can, protest if you can, shout if you can, but most importantly make sure you’re supporting you trans friends/family in any way they need. Go out and vote, and educate yourselves on your candidates and propositions. It has never been more critical than now.