NEW YORK, N.Y. — Family Equality Council responded to a New York Times report published today that details a Trump administration’s plan to redefine “sex” to exclude LGBTQ people and their families from a broad range of non-discrimination protections. The New York Times report describes an effort led by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans gender discrimination in education programs that receive government financial assistance. According to the Times, HHS officials are arguing that the government should also adopt a definition of gender as determined “on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable” that is limited to male or female, is unchangeable, and is determined by the sex organs a person is born with.
“This is a cruel, unnecessary attack on transgender Americans and their families that flies in the face of science, medical best practices, and the law,” said The Rev. Stan J. Sloan, CEO of Family Equality Council. “LGBTQ people and their families deserve to be protected from discrimination, yet this administration is signaling once again that it prioritizes extremist, religious anti-LGBTQ dogma over ensuring equal protection for all Americans under the law.”
The New York Times report indicates that officials are encouraging administration-wide adoption of the new definitions, meaning that non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people are at risk in federally-funded services ranging from health care and housing to job training and emergency assistance.
About Family Equality Council
Family Equality Council advances legal and lived equality for LGBTQ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change. Family Equality Council believes every LGBTQ person should have the right and opportunity to form and sustain a loving family, regardless of who they are or where they live. Learn more at familyequality.org.
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Media Contact:
Ed Harris, Chief Communications Officer, Family Equality Council
646-880-3005 x117 / eharris@familyequality.org