It appears that today the regime of Der Trumpenführer will begin its assault on LGBT rights by first taking aim at transgender students who under the Obama administration enjoyed protection by the Department of Education and Justice Department which construed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination as a form of sex discrimination. Enter newly confirmed Education Secretary and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, each of whom have decades long histories of being vitriolically anti-LGBT, and that supportive position is seemingly going to be flushed down the toilet. I suspect that this will be but the first shoe to drop and that the GOP backed "First Amendment Protection Act" will take the war against the entire LGBT community. Those "friends" and acquaintances who voted for hate and bigotry by voting for Trump/the GOP who have said "don't worry" or "you'll be OK" will obviously be shown to have been liars or utterly clueless. The sad reality is that under the misrule of Der Trumpenführer, only white, heterosexual conservative Christians will have full civil rights. The rest of us will be lucky if we are second or third class citizens. Here are details on this development from the Washington Blade:
Despite pleas from parents of transgender children and LGBT employees, the Trump administration is set Tuesday to rescind Obama-era guidance to schools barring discrimination against transgender students and ensuring they have access to the restroom consistent with their gender identity.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, told the Washington Blade on Monday she’s heard from “reliable sources” President Trump has green-lighted the plan for the Justice Department and Education Department to send a “Dear Colleague” letter to schools rescinding the guidance.
“This is the first day of the president’s second month in office and he is now fully coming after LGBT people,” Keisling said. “I’m angry; I’m outraged. This is about kids who just want to go to school who just want to be themselves, and to hear the president a week or two ago talk about how supportive he is of LGBT people, it’s just outrageous that he go after trans kids this way.”
Removal of the guidance would fulfill a campaign promise from Trump, who pledged to rescind the guidance after it was issued, but still “protect everybody,” amid outcry from conservative-leaning states.
Jointly issued in May under the Obama administration by the Justice Department and Education Department, the guidance asserts that denying transgender students access to the restroom in accordance with their gender identity violates the prohibition on sex discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
Rescinding the guidance is consistent with a legal brief the Justice Department filed earlier this month in litigation against the guidance filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on behalf of 12 states.
Transgender advocates took the change in position at the Justice Department as a signal Trump would soon fulfill his campaign promise to reverse the guidance.
A decision to withdraw the guidance could be an initial signal of the Trump administration’s position in the case before the U.S. Supreme Court known as Gloucester County Schools v. G.G., which resulted from transgender student Gavin Grimm suing his high school to use the restroom consistent with his gender identity. The questions before the court are to evaluate the guidance and whether the prohibition of sex discrimination under Title IX applies to transgender students seeking to use the restroom in school consistent with their gender identity.
The Trump administration would be rescinding the guidance weeks after the White House issued a statement declaring Trump is “respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights” and would preserve a separate order from President Obama barring anti-LGBT workplace discrimination among federal contractors.
“Transgender young people face tragically high rates of discrimination and bullying, and they need a government that will stand up for them — not attack them,” Griffin said. “It’s shocking that this kind of harm would even be a subject of debate for the president.
Things are going to only get worse under this right wing homophobic regime. I cannot help but wonder how many needless LGBT youth suicides will occur during this foul regime - much to the delight of the Christofascists.
No comments:
Post a Comment