Community News
BY BILL PARRY
More than three
hundred transgender
New Yorkers
joined elected officials
on the steps
of City Hall on Oct.
24 to speak out against what they call
the Trump-Pence administration’s discriminatory
attempt to exclude transgender
and gender nonconforming people
from its legal definition of gender.
The proposal from the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services
would define gender as a biological,
immutable condition determined by
genitalia at birth, and would be the
most drastic move yet in a large-scale
government push to reverse recognition
and rights of transgender individuals
under civil rights law.
“We will not remain silent and allow
the Trump administration to erase transgender
and gender non-conforming
people from existence,” Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer said. “An attack on
trans rights is an attack on all of our civil
rights. I will not rest until all members
of our LGBTQ community are afforded
the dignity, respect and legal protections
they deserve.”
City Comptroller Scott Stringer
called the Trump administration’s latest
proposal a vicious and inhumane
political attack that would have severe
consequences for transgender and
nonbinary people.
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“Let’s call this what it is: a thinly veiled
attempt to erase this community while
trampling their civil rights,” Stringer said.
“Trans rights are human rights — it’s
just that simple. Every person, no matter
their gender identity, sex or sexual
orientation deserves the right to freedom
and equality.”
Carmelyn Malalis, the chair and commissioner
of the NYC Commission on
Human Rights, offered some calming
words to the crowd.
“As Washington embarks on a mission
to erase people’s identity, New
York City has and will continue to move
in the opposite direction,” she said. “In
New York City, transgender and nonbinary
individuals are protected against
discrimination harassment by one of
the strongest anti-discrimination laws
in the nation, the NYC Human Rights
Law, which expressly protects people
against discrimination based on gender
identity and expression, and the NYC
Commission on Human Rights will continue
to vigorously enforce the law so
transgender and non-binary individuals
get the respect, dignity, and visibility
they deserve.”
Members of the Jackson Heightsbased
immigrant rights group Make
the Road New York took part in the
rally — and on Tuesday it denounced
the Trump administration’s plan to end
birthright citizenship, a core component
of the 14th Amendment, through an
executive order.
Trump told HBO that the move would
target “anchor babies” and “chain migration”
pleasing his base that have argued
the 14th Amendment was only intended
to provide citizenship to children born in
the U.S. to lawful permanent residents,
not to unauthorized immigrants or those
on temporary visas.
A constitutional amendment, however,
cannot be nullified through an
executive order, as per Article V of the
Constitution, which outlines the amendment
process.
“This is yet another example of
Trump’s eagerness to flout the Constitution
in his never-ending crusade to
attack immigrants and people of color,”
Make the Road Executive Director Javier
Valdes said. “Our community will
fight any such unconstitutional order
in the courts and the streets, and we
will win. We’re speaking to our Latino
voters every day who are eager to evict
Republican ideologues from the House
and insist on Democratic leadership that
steps up to protect our communities.”
Photo courtesy of Planned Parenthood
QUEENS RESIDENTS DEFEND
TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY
AGAINST PRESIDENT
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