GLAAD President Calls Transgender Policy Proposal a 'Civil Rights Crisis'
*By Max Godnick*
The Trump administration has declared it may change the legal definition of gender, but GLAAD's president and CEO thinks that whatever the White House decides, the damage has already been done.
"\[Transgender people\] carry a disproportionate amount of trials and tribulations as a community," Sarah Kate Ellis said Tuesday in an interview with Cheddar.
"Merely trying to say that you're trying to write them out and erase them already builds on those stereotypes, that stigma that they live with on a daily basis."
[The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/politics/transgender-trump-administration-sex-definition.html) reported Sunday that the Department of Health and Human Services is considering basing the definition of sex on a person's genitalia at birth. In a memo obtained by The Times, the agency proposed a new definition of gender that would rely "on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective, and administratable."
Ellis described the proposal as a "civil rights crisis" that threatens to virtually eliminate one of the country's most marginalized communities.
"Essentially it says you don't exist, you don't matter, and you won't be covered or protected," she said.
If approved, the policy would roll back Obama-era decisions that re-framed the understanding of gender as a matter of independent choice that can occur after birth. The new definition would upend the legal status of the 1.4 million Americans who identify with a different gender than the one they were born with.
On Monday, President Trump [responded](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lgbt/trump-says-transgender-policy-seeks-to-protect-the-country-idUSKCN1MW2XE)to the report, confirming that his administration is exploring "a lot of different concepts right now."
Ellis said such a move lacks both a precedent and a proper catalyst.
"It's a solution looking for a problem," she said. "There was no inciting incident, nothing happened."
It did not take long for GLAAD to mobilize in response to the news, organizing protests in New York City and Washington, D.C., in the days following the report.
The hashtag #WontBeErased started trending on Twitter shortly after the Times published its story as organizers arrange more rallies across the country.
Ellis is hopeful that activism may be enough to stop the proposal from enactment.
"If we push back and we're loud enough now, maybe it won't ever come to be," she said.
President Trump has responded to the outrage by insisting his priority is ensuring the safety of Americans, saying, "I want to protect our country."
But Ellis sees things differently.
"I think when you don't protect the most marginalized in the country, you're not protecting the country," she said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/glaad-president-reacts-to-trump-administrations-transgender-policy-proposal).
Earlier this month, New York City experienced one of the deadliest fires it has seen in decades. 17 people lost their lives in the Fordham section of the Bronx. This was due to a faulty space heater which reportedly began on the lower floor of the 120 unit building. Thanks to the F. D. N. Y. And heroic neighbors, many were able to get out in time. Unfortunately, the toxic smoke surged upwards through a safety door. Now, many advocates say negligence by policymakers and landlords has led to the deaths in black and brown communities from fires that honestly could have been preventable. Legislative Director of Citizen Action of New York, Rebecca Garrard, and the Chair of Journalism and New Media Studies at St. Joseph's College Theodore Hamm, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
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Mayors in cities like Miami and New York City are considering introducing cryptocurrencies as a way to reduce economic inequality. Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez has even pushed for distributing Bitcoin dividends to the city's inhabitants.
The U.S. will be implementing a vaccine mandate for all people entering through its land borders, removing exemptions for "essential" travelers such as truckers, students, and business people. While the Canadian Trucking Alliance argues that the new, stricter rule might exacerbate ongoing auto supply chain issues, some health experts see the potential for helping curb the ongoing pandemic. Anthony Santella, a professor of health administration at the University of New Haven, joined Cheddar to give his take on the updated border crossing restriction. "We can't just focus on one type of travel. We need to ensure that it's clear and consistent across all types of travel," Santella said.
