In October, the Health and Human Services department in the Trump administration proposed establishing a factual definition of gender, determined by one’s sex assigned at birth. The department elaborated this by confirming gender through one’s original birth certificate and genitals at birth. If one’s sex is unclear, their sex would need to be determined through genetic testing.

Acquired from a memo The New York Times received from the HHS department, it stated that, “Sex means a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth”. This statement was originally drafted, but widely communicated since last spring. If the HHS department’s decision passes, it would massively drawback transgender rights. This is because Title IX, a federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding, will be affected by this change because the law previously included discrimination involving gender identity.

In the response of the Trump administration’s change, Eliza Byard, the Executive Director of GLSEN (An education organization that strives making schools LGBTQ+ inclusive), protested against the Trump administration’s decision. “The U.S. Department of Education’s proposed regulations could create cruel and unnecessary obstacles for survivors of sexual harassment, including LGBTQ students who already experience higher rates of sexual harassment in schools than their peers,” Byard continues saying that. “All students deserve to have school administrators take their experiences seriously and support them throughout a process that can often be deeply traumatic.”

Transgender actress and activist Laverne Cox spoke about this issue on Twitter in series of tweets to fight for transgender rights. “This latest administration effort to legislate trans folks out of existence is yet another example of why the fight for gender equity must be intersectional and necessarily must include trans folks. Trans folks need everyone to stand with us in this fight, to let our government know this is not who we are . . .”