Leaked Health and Human Services Memo Unapologetically Threatens Transgender Rights

On October 21st, an allegedly circulating memo in the Department of Health and Human Services relating to trans rights was leaked by the New York Times. The memo details the administration’s desire to redefine sex as an irreversible biological trait and to reinterpret Title IX to include this definition, an effort that would erase the identities and civil rights of trans and non-binary Americans. Such a definition would be inherently harmful to trans and non-binary people-as well as scientifically inaccurate, overly simplistic, and nearly impossible to accurately enforce.

The most obvious negative effect of defining sex so narrowly is the limitations it will place on trans people. The explicit purpose of redefining sex is to prevent trans people from accessing the same protections they've recently been afforded through Title IX and the federal government. It also (purposeful or not) essentially remove trans/non-binary people from existence (on a federal level) by establishing sex as either male or female and based on the genitals a person was born with. Such a precedent could inevitably lead to higher discrimination since most of the protections trans people are given through Title IX. Otherwise, there are no formal federal anti-discrimination provisions on the basis of gender identity. So, if Title IX is reinterpreted, trans people could inevitably lose protection from educational, work, and healthcare discrimination. In addition, the erasure of trans identities could also cause an uptick in violence as a result of the dehumanizing effect and the lack of perceived support for trans and nonbinary individuals. The memo validates the viewpoints of anti-LGBTQ hate groups amd alligns their ideology with accepted federal policy. All told, the memo proposes a solution that is dangerous (both physically and psychologically) to one of the most vulnerable minority groups.

Also, the definition itself is scientifically inaccurate. Most of the medical community has recognized a difference between sex and gender, giving scientific validity to trans identities. In addition, many conditions exist the place individuals outside the gender binary. The mere existence of intersex people (someone born with a combination of sex characteristics) contradicts the view of gender as either male or female. Regardless of the administrations assertions, the view of gender as a complex spectrum has been largely accepted as scientifically more accurate than the old method of maintaining a binary system by medical professionals and scientists alike.

Trans and non-binary Americans are people who deserve basic human rights. Limiting these rights and erasing their identities are not a solution to the growing visibility of trans people in our societies. It is not a solution that will “protect Americans” or create scientific objectivity in a social issue. The only thing it achieves is stifling trans and non-binary people in narrow categorizations that are antithetical to their identities and further discriminates against their very personhood. In the simplest terms, the proposal seeks to deny trans and non-binary people the right to exist freely in our society.