THREAD: Earlier today, the @nytimes published this story, about efforts within the Trump Administration to eliminate the rights of transgender people - a heartless attack on our rights. nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/…
This proposal is an attempt to put restraints on the lives of 2 million people, effectively abandoning our right to equal access to health care, to housing, to education, or to fair treatment under the law.
This administration is willing to disregard the established medical and legal view of our rights and ourselves to solidify an archaic, dogmatic, and frightening view of the world. This transparent political attack will not succeed administratively, legally, or morally
To transgender people: we know you are frightened. We know you are horrified to see your existence treated in such an inhumane and flippant manner. This is an abomination, a reckless attack on your lives and ours.
In the name of preempting some misinformation, let’s talk about what this proposed rule would NOT do. It would NOT eliminate the precedents set by dozens of federal courts over the last two decades affirming the full rights and identities of transgender people.
It would NOT undo the consensus of the medical providers and scientists across the globe who see transgender people, know transgender people, and urge everyone to accept us for who we are.
And NO rule—no administration—can erase the experiences of transgender people and our families. While foolish, this proposed rule deflates itself in the face of the facts, and the facts don’t care how the Trump administration feels.
With each awful headline like this, remember that you are far from alone. NCTE and other organizations are continuing to fight against this bigotry. Remember that there is an entire human rights community that not only stands with us but will always fight back—and fight hard.
Thousands of us have devoted our lives to protecting you and your families, and our ability to do so is nothing short of a privilege. And we will not lay down now. Transgender people have fought rules like this one in federal and state court and won.
We have stood toe-to-toe with administrators, legislatures, and executives who would agree with this rule, and we won. We have fought and will continue to fight for The Equality Act, a bill that would explicitly enshrine civil rights protections for transgender people.
We know how to defeat this, and we will do everything we can until every transgender person feels secure in their rights under the law.
At the heart of our work is the belief that no one should have to suffer to be true to themselves. Yet transgender people are still forced from their homes, fired from their jobs, harassed at their schools, and denied a basic level of dignity by a broken system.
Knowing this, millions of transgender people wake up every day and step into an uncertain world. This is the most common trait shared by transgender people: A strength and resilience for hard and difficult times.
If this administration is hoping to demoralize us, they will be disappointed. If they are hoping we will give up, they should reconsider the power of our persistence and our fury.
