Jeff Sessions' Transphobia
In the past several weeks, Jeff Sessions has hypocritically both denied transgender citizens basic rights, while condemning perpetrators of hate crimes against transgender people.
On October 5, Sessions announced that transgender people would no longer be protected under Title VII, a Civil Rights Law that prohibits employer discrimination on the basis of gender. In his statement, Sessions said: "Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination encompasses discrimination between men and women but does not encompass discrimination based on gender identity per se, including transgender status." With this statement, Sessions reaffirmed the continued transphobia of the Trump administration, as well as effectively publicly stated that trans men and women do not qualify as "real" men and women.
In many ways, this action unfortunately comes as no surprise. The Trump administration has been restricting the rights of marginalized groups of people in the United States since day one. However, despite being unsurprising, this disavowal of trans people's rights is still horrifying and devastating.
What is surprising is that on October 15, only ten days after revoking the Obama era policy of employment protection for transgender individuals, Sessions and the Department of Justice sent a federal hate crimes lawyer to aid in the prosecution of an Iowa man who murdered a transgender teen last year.
According to The New York Times, "In taking the step, Mr. Sessions, a staunch conservative, is sending a signal that he has made a priority of fighting violence against transgender people individually, even as he has rolled back legal protections for them collectively." Regardless, the message coming from the Hill is clear: President Trump and his administration do not respect transgender people.
Is Sessions' commitment to helping trans people only once they have been assaulted or murdered acceptable? Is it enough to act in response to hate crimes against trans individuals, without putting laws in place that protect their rights from the start?
The answer is an unequivocal no. It is not acceptable and it is not enough. The continued discrimination against and murder of transgender people in the United States is symptomatic of a structural problem of disrespect and prejudice that is being supported by the United States government. Hate crimes against trans people will not stop until initiatives and laws are in place that affirm trans individuals' rights, and until the US undergoes a cultural shift towards acceptance and respect. Because of Sessions' actions, we are moving in the wrong direction.
For more information about the actions referenced in this post, follow the links below: