A few days back, “#WontBeErased” took Twitter by storm. Thousands of protestors took to the streets in Washington and New York to voice against a proposal that the Trump administration is planning to implement.
(Courtesy: Bustle)
On Sunday, The New York Times published an article that claimed Trump administration is planning to narrow down the definition of gender. It says that the current government is considering to define gender as a biological condition which will be determined by the genitalia at birth. Any such proposal can legally put transgender out of existence, which means there would ONLY be two genders: male and female.
Here are few excerpts:
“The Trump administration is considering narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, the most drastic move yet in a government-wide effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people under federal civil rights law.”
“The department (Health and Human Services) argued in its memo that key government agencies needed to adopt an explicit and uniform definition of gender as determined “on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable.” The agency’s proposed definition would define sex as either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals that a person is born with, according to a draft reviewed by The Times. Any dispute about one’s sex would have to be clarified using genetic testing.”
Unsurprisingly, following the news break, other media houses took the NYT’s report in a big way and there was a lot of criticism for the Trump administration. Republicans were unnervingly silent on the issue. The right-wing and conservatives were seemingly in rejoice.
From politicians to journalists to common people from across the world—every one opposed the possibility of such a proposal. Soon, people started gathering in New York City’s Washington Square Park to lodge their protest. A rally outside the White House was organized for Monday. The mass protest didn’t just include the transgenders but people of all sexes. (Certainly, something us Indians can learn from them— to support others’ rights even it doesn’t include self-benefit.)
Here are some of the images of protests (taken from Twitter; rights belong to their respective owners):