- We learned that the Trump administration
is trying to define transgender
people out of existence.
But what does this actually entail
and what are the terrifying implications
for transgender people and everyone?
On October 21st, 2018,
The New York Times reported
on a memo describing a plan
by the Department of
Health & Human Services
to create a legal definition
of gender identity and sex.
This definition would be
implemented under Title IX,
a law that bans
discrimination based on sex
in education programs funded
by the federal government.
The HHS memo, which is spearheaded
by an anti-LGBT conservative,
would define gender, quote,
"on a biological basis that
is clear, grounded in science,
"objective, and administrable," end quote.
The memo proposed that, quote,
"Sex means a person's
status as male or female
"based on immutable biological traits
"identifiable by or before birth.
"The sex listed on a
person's birth certificate,
"as originally issued, shall
constitute definite proof
"of a person's sex unless rebutted
"by reliable genetic evidence."
While this proposed definition of gender
would come into effect under Title IX,
it will require the
Departments of Education,
Justice, Labor, and
Health & Human Services
to adopt the new definition.
It will then provide
further legal precedence
and increase the probability
that the American court system
would follow the same definition.
And this definition is dangerous
for both transgender and cisgender people.
How so?
The memo claims that defining
sex as either male or female
is quote, "grounded in science,"
but that isn't actually true.
Biological sex is not, and
has never been, a binary.
Biological sex is a spectrum.
We're taught in school that men
are born with XY chromosomes
and women have XX.
While, there are two statistical peaks
that match with that definition,
there are actually a whole host of things
that cause people to not fit
into those categories of sex.
For example, some people
can be born with XXY
or XYY chromosomes.
Someone could also be born
with irregular hormonal levels,
leading to an XY person to be
born with female genitalia,
or an XX person to have male genitalia.
Even further, thousands are
born with ambiguous genitalia
that aren't a penis or a clitoris.
Though these infants
are often forcibly given
unnecessary surgeries to make them match
with one genital type or the other,
we generally call all of
these categories of people
intersex.
Though as illustrated, there
are many different types
of intersex people.
Even further, many intersex
people don't even know
they're intersex.
You may be intersex and have zero idea.
So to reiterate, biological
sex is a spectrum.
The government's new definition of sex
would call for genetic testing
in order to verify a
person's biological sex.
And that would be straight
out of the worlds of 1984
and a Brave New World, a
world based on eugenics,
instead of the belief of
the value of all types
of human beings.
Additionally, what if you
found out you're intersex
through genetic testing?
If the government only
recognizes male or female,
where would that leave you?
An unperson?
You know, that thing that George
Orwell warned us all about?
Moving on, what if you don't
identify as transgender at all
but someone just decides
you don't look male
or female enough?
Like maybe you're trying
to go on a vacation
out of the country,
and a border patrol agent doesn't
think you look like a boy?
You may have to forcibly
undergo genetic testing
just to prove your sex,
making you miss your trip,
or more drastically, causing
you to face discrimination
or other issues.
And what's more?
As we found out while talking
about intersex people,
you may find out the sex
you always thought you were
isn't what you actually are.
Now I've spent a good
portion of this video
showing how this policy can
affect anyone, trans or not.
This new definition has nothing to do
with trying to defend science
or biology, as I've shown,
and it has everything to do with attacking
the transgender community.
This policy would essentially
allow the government
to ignore the 1.4 million
transgender Americans,
because legally, we wouldn't exist.
And transgender people
need specific protections.
47% of transgender people
are sexually assaulted
at some point in their life.
One in 2,600 transgender
women of color are murdered
every year compared to one
in 19,000 cisgender people.
Trans people are also far more likely
to be denied medical treatment,
housing, or employment,
simply because they are transgender.
Under a new sex definition,
the government could
effectively ignore all of these
and other dangerous issues
that trans people face.
Additionally, this definition
would force all trans people
to legally revert to a gender marker
that they don't identify with.
This would have damaging mental
effects on all trans people.
A recent UCLA study showed
that not acknowledging
a transgender person's gender identity
leads to an almost 30%
increase in suicide attempts.
It could also legally force trans people
to enter bathrooms and locker rooms
that don't match our gender identity.
And because many of us are visibly trans
or look like our gender identity,
we would be left vulnerable
to drastically larger chances
of physical and sexual assault.
The very confusion of which
locker room to use itself
leaves us vulnerable,
as evidenced as a young
transgender student
recently being forced to
sit outside a locker room
during an active shooter drill.
Additionally, trans people like me,
who have already changed all
of our legal gender markers,
would suddenly be left without
proper legal identification.
My current birth certificate,
driver's license,
social security card, and
many other legal documents
say that I'm a woman, but
under this new policy,
all of my documentation would be invalid.
And as we've seen being done
to people of color by Georgia,
discrepancy with documentation
can easily provide an avenue
for discrimination and disenfranchisement.
The Trump administration
could leave thousands,
if not millions of
Americans, unable to vote
and vulnerable to being
denied governmental, medical,
and any other services requiring proper ID
and documentation.
For transgender people like myself,
this policy is yet another clear attempt
by an administration that has
continually tried to limit
and erase transgender people's
civil rights protections.
From the Department of Education
removing Obama-era guidances
protecting transgender
students in schools,
to Trump himself announcing
a ban on transgender people
serving in the military.
Transgender people do not
want to ignore biology.
We never have.
It's why we have an
understanding of the difference
between sex and gender.
Our biological sex, while
a spectrum in itself,
is unchangeable.
We completely and totally understand this.
And we would be the
first to acknowledge it.
We aren't mentally ill
or somehow having a break from reality.
But gender, which affects how
we are treated by society,
is completely changeable.
I have the right to be asked
to be respected and treated
how I want, whether that's
with certain pronouns,
wearing specific clothing,
or proper medical services
to help treat gender dysphoria.
I, as a transgender person,
just like anyone else,
have the right to narrate
the story of my own body
and identity, to define
myself and my future.
As a trans person, this policy
would constitute an attack
to my body, my mind, and my life.
This is why trans people need everyone,
not just other transgender
people, but everyone,
to step up to fight this illogical policy.
Life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.
That's the promise of America.
This policy to redefine sex and gender
is in direct opposition
to science, biology,
and the very thing that
America stands for,
the acceptance of everyone
for exactly who you are.
