The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

UltraViolet Reacts to Trump Administration Plans to Roll Back Recognition and Protections of Transgender People

WASHINGTON

Yesterday, the New York Times reported on a memo from the Department of Health and Human Services with plans to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, in a Trump administration effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people under federal civil rights law. In response, Shaunna Thomas, Executive Director and Co-founder of UltraViolet, a leading national women's group, issued the following statement:

"Trump's latest attack on trans people is an unacceptable assault on human freedom. Our vision for gender equality will never be realized until we center the dignity and freedom of trans and non-binary people. Trans women are women, and sexist violence targets trans and gender non-conforming people the most. Erasing their identity makes these communities and their urgent need for safety even more invisible.

"It is especially sinister that the Trump Administration would use Title IX to limit the rights of trans individuals. Title IX was created to protect people from sexist discrimination, not narrow civil rights law to make it easier to fire or discriminate against trans people.

"We will not allow trans and non-binary people to be erased. Not now, not ever."

UltraViolet is a powerful and rapidly growing community of people mobilized to fight sexism and create a more inclusive world that accurately represents all women, from politics and government to media and pop culture.