Democrats Introduce ‘Transgender Bill Of Rights’

On Tuesday, House Democrats introduced a “Transgender Bill of Rights” to “protect and codify the rights of transgender and nonbinary people under the law and ensure their access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security.”

Led by Democrat Reps. Pramila Jayapal (WA), David Cicilline (RI), Marie Newman (IL), Mark Takano (CA), and Ritchie Torres (NY), HR 1209 proposes “amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, including gender identity and sex characteristics in public accommodations and federally funded programs and activities.”

“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,” said Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and co-chair of the Transgender Equality Task Force.

“Our Trans Bill of Rights says clearly to the trans community across the country that we see you and we will stand with you to ensure you are protected and given the dignity and respect that every person should have,” Jayapal added.

The bill seeks to increase the ability of children to get permanent and life changing surgeries by “eliminating unnecessary governmental restrictions on the provision of, and access to, gender-affirming medical care and counseling for transgender and nonbinary adults, adolescents, and children.”

The bill will additionally ensure that biological male students are allowed to compete in girls’ sports by amending federal “education laws to ensure that they protect students from discrimination based on sex, including gender identity and sex characteristics, and guarantee students’ right to participate in sports on teams that best align with their gender identity.”

Federal education laws will also be amended to allow students to :use school facilities that best align with their gender identity,” meaning that biological males would be allowed to use girls’ restrooms and locker rooms.

The bill expands beyond “transgender rights” to also ban states from making laws restricting abortion by “codifying the right to abortion.”