https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/politics/transgender-trump-administration-sex-definition.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45939524
Summary: On November 21st, New York Times released an article titled, "'Transgender' Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration", explaining how the Trump administration is considering shallowly defining gender as biological, and that your genitalia defines your gender. This means that people that identify as transgender's federal protection and recognition of the existence could be at risk, and the gender they truly identify as may legally disappear. Unsurprisingly, this sparked an outrage within the LGBTQ+ community and beyond, and a demonstration was held in New York and a protest is scheduled outside the White House on Monday. Because it's 2018, people that are transgender and out have been posting their opinions and personal stories regarding the possible reform with #WeWontBeErased on Twitter. Celebrities like Juno's Ellen Page and Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness have been expressing their opinions on the matter, along with political figures like Bernie Sanders and Chelsea Clinton.
Analysis: I completely support the LGBTQ+ community in this situation. Having friends who are transgender, I can gladly say that declaring that gender is based on biology is ignorant and counteracts the normalization of respecting a person's gender and pronouns, and instead of taking a step forward, we're taking a step back by placing gender and biology under the same page and having some people calling gender fluidity "b.s.".Before reading this I had read somewhere in a small headline on a web browser's front page that discussions about gender recognition were stirring up within the walls of the White House, but nothing more than that. These articles were written by Erica L. Green, Robert Pear, and Katie Benner (New York Times), and the writing staff at BBC (names weren't listed). Erica L. Green covers education and education policy, Katie Benner won a Pulitzer Prize for public service, and Robert Pear has been working at New York Times since 1979. These articles were written to give the LGBTQ+ community yet another voice in the media to express their opinions on the consideration of a reform of the gender recognition policy. This can be related to back in February of 2017 when backlash regarding Trump's reversal of the Transgender Bathroom Policy brewed and protests ensued.
I also did my current event over this, and I agree with all of the points you made. I especially appreciate that you mentioned nonbinary genders besides transgender, as they go unrecognized so often. I understand that people sometimes struggle with understanding this concept, but we need to increase education around this. People who purposely misgender others because their genitals don't match their gender are ignorant and disrespectful. We need to provide as much support as possible to the LGBTQ+ community. In doing so, we can spread awareness so that our government will take notice.
ReplyDeleteI read about this and it sounds absolutely insane to me. We've already advanced and to have the thought of maybe going back is very upsetting for the future of mankind.
ReplyDelete-ZION MELAKU
I truly hope this does not pass. It invalidates and dehumanizes all transgender people. We need to support our transgender peers, friends, family, etc., in this time of shock. - Leslie Vasquez
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