Now, first things first. Trump's plan to define sex in a binary way is an attack on the transgender community, but also an attack on the intersex community. I will try to touch on that, but as I am not intersex, I want to avoid spreading misinformation. I fully support intersex people and believe this is just as much an attack on them as it is on transgender people.

Let's start with a definition for transgender. Transgender is an adjective, not a noun. Someone is transgender, not "a transgender." A lot of people also confuse sex and gender, but they're not interchangeable. To put it simply, sex is what's in your pants, and gender is what's in your head.

Cisgender is the opposite of transgender. People who are cisgender identify with the sex that they were assigned at birth and their gender coincides with their sex.

Sex refers to your genitalia.

A lot of us (including myself) grew up on the belief that there is male genitalia and female genitalia. This is not correct. First of all, equating genitals with gender (male parts/female parts) can be correct for certain people, but not for all. Secondly, sex isn't binary. That's where the term "intersex" comes in.

If someone is intersex, that means that their genitals do not fit into the aforementioned binary. For example, people may be born with a mix of male and female genitals such as a large clitoris, no vaginal opening, or a scrotum that is divided so it is more like labia.

Some people who fit the criteria of "intersex" don't identify as intersex. This is their own decision to make, and they should not be forced to identify as intersex if they don't choose to on their own.

Transgender people also have the choice of identification. Some trans people identify themselves with the terms AFAB (assigned female at birth) or AMAB (assigned male at birth). Personally, I despise being defined as AFAB because I feel as though the term puts too much focused on what I was labelled when I was born when it should put focus on who I am now. Some trans people also choose to identify themselves as transsexual. This is an outdated term and is considered offensive. It should not be used by cisgender people, but transgender people can identify themselves as transsexual if they so choose.

Going back to the problem of binary genitalia, calling genitals "male" or "female" is problematic to transgender people. For a pre-op trans male, having his genitals be referred to as female is traumatizing and triggering. It also perpetuates the myth that you have to fit into a specific label.

Let's break down another myth. Transgender people all identify with the gender that matches the sex they believe they should have, right? Wrong.

Not all transgender people seek surgery, and not all transgender people follow the same path. Some people change their legal name first, some people start testosterone or estrogen first, and some go straight for surgery. Some trans people don't want to do any of the above. All forms of transgender people are valid.

If a transgender person wants surgery to be the "opposite sex," that does not automatically mean that their gender matches that sex. There are many different kinds of genders, and none of them auto correspond with a specific sex. You can be AMAB, have surgery to have a vagina, but identify as agender (not identifying with any gender). There's no chart to follow. You can be whatever gender you want to be regardless of what your sex is. This also applies for cisgender people.

Now that you know the basics of what being transgender means, let's talk about why what Trump is saying is problematic.

Defining gender as "a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth" is extremely problematic and dangerous.

If this change is made in law, transgender people will be at very high risk of discrimination. In the U.S. Transgender Survey, 16% of transgender people who responded lost at least one job because of their identity, 30% who had a job in 2015 were fired or harassed in the workplace, 27% were fired or not hired, 15% were verbally/physically/sexually assaulted, 23% experienced forms of mistreatment such as being asked to stay in the closet or being outed, and 77% either stayed in the closet or quit to avoid possible mistreatment.

Thanks to the Obama administration, we currently have protections in the workplace for transgender people. If Trump changes the definition of gender, those protections are out the window. The rates of discrimination and assault against transgender people are going to skyrocket. People are going to lose jobs, lose their housing, face violent assault, and even be at risk of murder.

It is more important than ever to exercise your right to vote. Help conserve the rights of transgender people because we need all the help we can get.