The Trevor Projects Hits Back At The Administration's Definition Of Gender

After a New York Times report revealed that the Trump administration is "defining trans Americans out of existence," chaos erupted and the Trevor Project, the nation's largest and only accredited suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth, hit back with a statement from their CEO and Executive Director Amir Paley. 

"When a young person hears that their existence and gender identity will not be recognized by their government, they hear that they are not worthy to be a part of that nation. Transgender youth seeing this report should know that they are not alone and that their identity is valid – nothing the government does can change that," Paley said in a lengthy statement. "These policy decisions have real-world consequences. The Trevor Project has seen a significant rise in contacts from young people who identify as transgender or non-binary over the last year, now making up over 30% of our total crisis volume. When government takes actions targeting the transgender community, our call volume spikes even higher. The administration’s choice to deny the reality of transgender lives is reckless and dangerous."

In a follow-up statement, Paley further detailed just how harmful policies like this can negatively impact the transgender community on a nationwide scale. "Implementing a harmful policy with an erroneous foundation that doesn’t acknowledge transgender or intersex people goes against the best practices of the World Health Organization, American Academy of Pediatrics, WPATH, leading education advocates and others," he explained. "This policy would be extremely dangerous for people who have pursued social and physical transition in a variety of public environments such as schools, locker rooms, healthcare settings, and much more."

The Times' initial report detailed that the administration is considering on narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth. If they proceed, this will be the most drastic move in a government effort to roll back progression for transgender people under federal civil rights law. 

Photo: Getty Images


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