Call your members of Congress to protest Health and Human Services (HHS)’ proposed plans that would cease recognition of the civil rights of transgender people. 

Today’s Trump Administration fuckery comes from a Health and Human Services (HHS) proposal that would essentially cease to recognize the civil rights of transgender people.

The Obama administration had done much to issue guidelines and protections for this vulnerable group. On October 21, 2018, the New York Times reported that it had received an HHS memo that suggested narrowly defining gender as the sex assigned to an individual at birth.

If enacted, the changes would affect around 1.4 million Americans who have realized their sex and their gender don’t align.

Full article is here:

We can argue why the Trump administration is doing this, and why they’re doing this now. But once again we find ourselves metaphorically coaxing a toddler to put down the matches and walk away from the gas stove. Stop the danger first, then ponder the whys.

Here’s a script to use with your members of Congress (MoCs). Before you call, check the social media feeds of your two Senators and your House Rep. Have they said anything at all? Follow the script as written. Have they spoken out in favor of transgender rights, as Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has? Thank them and mention the platform where you saw the message. Have they spoken against? Firmly, politely castigate them for their stance. Got it? OK, here’s a suggestion for what you can say:

“Dear Senator/House Rep (Lastname), I am (Firstname Lastname of town, zip code), and I am calling to ask you to do everything you can to stop Health and Human Services from rewriting the government’s definition of sex and gender to effectively erase transgender people. Recently, the New York Times received an HHS memo that promised to do just that by redefining the meaning of sex so narrowly that it fails to recognize the existence of transgender people.

If HHS succeeds, the department’s needless cruelty will affect the lives of around 1.4 million Americans who know that their gender doesn’t match the sex that they were assigned at birth. Transgender people suffer greatly as it is. The Obama administration took steps to grant them some civil rights protections. We shouldn’t be repealing those protections–we should be strengthening them and expanding them. I urge you to speak publicly against this proposal and draft laws that would reinforce the good work that the previous administration started.”

If you are a physician, please contact your relevant professional medical group, or the relevant subcommittee within that group, to urge it to push back against the government’s attempt to make laws that imperiously stomp all over science.

If you live in Massachusetts and you haven’t voted yet (early voting started Monday, October 22), please vote YES on Question 3. Voting yes is a vote to defend transgender rights in that state. If we at OTYCD hear about similar ballot measures in other states, we’ll add those here and we’ll note the correct wording to choose to affirm transgender rights.

If you can make a donation, consider giving to the Center for Transgender Equality:

https://transequality.org

On Twitter:

@transequality

…and/or the Transgender Law Center:

https://transgenderlawcenter.org

On Twitter:

@translawcenter

Also follow the #WontBeErased hashtag on Twitter.

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