As everyone has seen in the news lately, Trump's administration is currently attempting to define the word 'Transgender' out of existence.
To explain a bit more, they're considerably narrowing the definition of gender to only be the biological and immutable genitalia determined only at or before birth. The agency is proposing a definition that would define gender as strictly only male or female with no allowance of changing unless clarified by genetic testing.
So in other words, whatever you're born with is what you're stuck with regardless of who you feel you really are.
This is a huge backtrack to where we were as a country during the Obama administration. His administration was able to loosen the legal concept of gender in both federal education and health care programs, allowing an individual the choice on what gender they chose to identify with, regardless of their biology.
Conservatives were angry with this as it prompted fights over bathrooms and dormitories and many other places previously defined by gender. They've also already attempted to ban transgender people from serving in the military, and now they're threatening their civil rights.
If you recall back to June of 2016, Mr. Trump tweeted thanking the LGBT community for their support and stated that "I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs." Where's that support now? Because last I checked, he's practically banning the transgender population from even existing.
Twitter
If this definition actually goes through, 1.4 million Americans that have chosen to label themselves as transgender by surgery or not will longer be able to call themselves transgender. After years of fighting for civil rights and protections for the trans and non-gender conforming community through the court system, this new administration could destroy that all.
Currently, gender is defined as more of a feeling or emotion, along with sex being the more separate and medical term. The medical system recognizes that no single aspect of gender defines a persons gender identity, their internal sense of gender, which very well does not have to match the sex assigned to them at birth.
Right now, Title IX states that no person shall be subjected to discrimination in any educational program or activity based on sex. There is no definition for 'sex' or 'discrimination', but during the Obama administration it was intended to protect what Congress believed was morally right, and at the time that was the civil protection of those identifying as transgender or non-gender conforming.
Sadly, this news isn't all that shocking as it is outraging as Trump has continuously let down community after community of people. Between the outrageous comments, he makes about women and now this, who knows what's next. What I do know, however, is that the LGBTQ community isn't one to give up easily, especially with so many continuous supporters.
So thank you, Trump, for letting everyone down once again.
