In response to the announcement that the Trump administration is planning on federally defining ‘gender’ based on a person’s sex assigned at birth, Debra Hauser, President at Advocates for Youth, issued the following statement.

“This Administration’s unceasing attacks on transgender young people are heartless and disgusting, and we will not tolerate them. Transgender young people deserve to be celebrated for who they are.

“Once again this administration is attempting to strip transgender and gender-nonconforming people of their identities and rights. This egregious attack on civil liberties is a step backward for this country and a decision that will endanger the lives of the almost 1.5 million people in this country that do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, including many trans young people who are particularly vulnerable to attacks. This regressive and unscientific definition of gender is another attempt by Trump to roll back Title IX protections that prevent discrimination against transgender people and takes a step further to deny their existence entirely.

“We refuse to allow this administration to codify transphobia into law. The demands of far right, anti-LGBTQ groups will not erase the lived realities of transgender people in this country. We are committed to amplifying the voices of trans youth and fighting for their rights.”