Democrats propose 'Transgender Bill of Rights' to codify Constitutional protections for transgendered individuals

'As we witness Republicans and an extremist Supreme Court attack and roll back the fundamental rights of trans people across our country, and as state legislatures across the country target our trans community with hateful, bigoted and transphobic attacks, we are standing up and saying enough is enough,' Jayapal said. 

Democrats propose 'Transgender Bill of Rights' to codify Constitutional protections for transgendered individuals
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool
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House Democrats on Tuesday announced a “Transgender Bill of Rights” in a move to codify protections for transgender-identified individuals in the United States. 

The proposal, if passed, would codify the Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County, which protects employees against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexuality and will amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections for gender identity and sex characteristics. 

The bill also expands access to so-called “gender affirming care” and bans transgender conversion therapy. While the definition of conversation therapy remains relatively undefined by the law, Science.org describes it as “attempts by practitioners to align their gender identity with their sex assigned at birth.” 

As detailed by The Hill on Wednesday, the proposal requires the U.S. attorney general  to “designate a liaison dedicated to overseeing enforcement of civil rights for transgender people and invest in community services to prevent anti-transgender violence.” 

“Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and co-chair of the Transgender Equality Task Force, said in a statement that the resolution would ensure transgender people can lead ‘full, happy lives,’” the publication reported. 

“As we witness Republicans and an extremist Supreme Court attack and roll back the fundamental rights of trans people across our country, and as state legislatures across the country target our trans community with hateful, bigoted and transphobic attacks, we are standing up and saying enough is enough,” Jayapal said. 

The bill, which was introduced by Jayapal, is cosponsored by Democrat Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI), Marie Newman (D-IL), Mark Takano (D-CA) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY). 

Proponents of the bill cited the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade legislation which protected abortion rights on a federal level. 

The Hill reported: 

The Bostock decision was not mentioned in [Justice Clarence Thomas’s] concurring opinion and involved a different legal question. 

But Thomas’s opinion has caught the eye of many Democrats who believe the Supreme Court’s conservative majority is poised to roll back rights extended to LGBTQ people in past cases. 

The bill, which is supported by more than 30 pro-transgender organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Education Association, includes citations to research from the Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, which showed that state legislatures have proposed over 300 “anti-LGBTQ bills in the past year,” The Hill reported.

“While some politicians are targeting our community with discriminatory legislation, we are grateful that the members House of Representatives are sending this message to us — and especially to transgender youth — that they affirm our lives and value the contributions we make to our country,” stated Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, the National Center for Transgender Equality’s executive director. “We deserve to live as who we are without sacrificing our safety, access to health care or enduring violence and discrimination.”

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