On Friday, which was the 4-year anniversary of the bombing of the Pulse nightclub that killed 49 members of the LGBTQ community, the Trump administration finalized a rule that would remove non-discriminatory protections for LGBTQ people when it comes to health care and health insurance.
These protections were laid out in the Affordable Care Act that established it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in health programs and activities. The Obamacare rule explained that protections regarding “sex” encompass those based on gender identity, which it defined as “male, female, neither or a combination of male and female.”
Under this new rule, a transgender person could, for example, be refused care for a medical visit or have certain procedures not covered by insurance. The rule could also mean that those seeking an abortion could be denied care if performing the procedure violates the providers moral or religious beliefs. For black transgender people, it is layers of oppression: it’s transphobia on top of racism on top of economic oppression.
We strongly oppose this hideous rule and are working with our federally elected officials to block this from happening. The best way to stop this is by voting in the November election.
The good news came out of the Supreme Court yesterday. In a 6-3 vote, the Court reaffirmed that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ from workplace discrimination. In over half the states in America, you could be fired for being gay or transgender, until now. A gay or trans person could be married on a Sunday and fired from their job on Monday. We celebrate this historic ruling but until our laws remedy systemic racism and inequality, until it is no longer legal to discriminate against the LGBTQ community in public spaces our work is far from done.
We have always believed that every single human being has the right to healthcare and will continue to fight for that right at every level of government.
