Brief #45—Health
Policy Summary
Last month, Axios published an interview with Trump in which he suggested that there would be steps taken to ensure that gender identification from the federal government would be purely binary. Earlier this month, the Trump Administration advanced further attacks on LGBTQIA+ community by halting visas for same sex partners of diplomats, a severe hit on both our foreign policy agenda and on the legitimacy of the identity of LGBTQIA+. Additionally, language has been repeatedly used in the Department of Education to try to create more restrictive definitions for gender that would essentially create a binary rather than a spectrum of genders. Bathroom investigations to make them more gender inclusive has been halted under the leadership of Betsy DeVos.
Analysis
These blatant policy attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community have been secluded to the Department of Education and the State Department as of late. However, there will likely be a ripple effect of other policy changes throughout the federal departments if policy changes like this become common under the Trump Administration. Celebrity activists and other non-profits have been vocal about their opposition to these policies, but there is still momentum within the Trump Administration to continue to oppress and strip transgender individuals of their right to their identity. If these individual policy changes continue, there will most likely be momentum for more permanent and far reaching policy changes to take place through legislation.
Resistance Resources:
- Outright International– An organization dedicated to supporting LGBTQIA+ people and providing trainings to local communities and schools to be more inclusive.
- This Brief was submitted by U.S. RESIST NEWS Healthcare Policy Analyst-Sophia Adams Name: Contact Sophia.lorene30@gmail.com
- Keywords: LGBTQIA+, transgender rights, human rights, betsy devos, state department, united nations, bathroom
Photo by Peter Hershey