FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tiommi Luckett, Communications Assistant, Positive Women’s Network – USA
501-258-3973 | [email protected]
July 26, 2017, Washington, DC- Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN-USA) condemns the Trump administration’s vicious dehumanization of people who are trans and gender non conforming. This morning, via Twitter, Trump announced a ban on all forms of military service for transgender people, ungrammatically and incorrectly claiming that “transgender in the military” would entail “tremendous medical costs and disruption.”
Trump’s inherent premise that some bodies are transgressive, disruptive, and by nature troublesome is at the very root of violence and discrimination faced by people who are trans and gender non conforming (TGNC) – violence which too often is deadly, especially for TGNC people of color. This directive from the White House comes just weeks after the Republican-led US House rejected an amendment to dismantle medical rights of trans folks in the military. The amendment would have denied medical care required for gender transition, including prescription medications and surgeries.
According to Tiommi Luckett, PWN-USA’s Communications Assistant and a black woman of trans experience, “Trump’s tweets are just an amplified example of willful ignorance and unchecked stupidity about trans people and our bodies, which seems to always be the focus of conversation. This is one reason why our rights as human beings are infringed upon categorically, including our rights to housing, education, access to public facilities, healthcare and employment. Our bodies, our appearances and our experiences are deemed unworthy of equal protection and fair access, and hateful rhetoric from the White House basically makes it open season to legislate discrimination. Trans people are not liabilities, nor are we sub-human. And our fight is not for equality, but for equity.”
“We are humans. We are Americans, and we demand the same opportunity as everyone else,” said Naiymah Sanchez, Transgender Advocacy Coordinator at the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.
Arneta Rogers, Policy Director at PWN-USA said “It does not escape our notice that the particular battleground for this war on some bodies is the military, but we fight back for the right to self-determination and full participation for people of all gender identities. No body in service to their country should ever been deemed a “burden”. We will not stop fighting until all of us are free”
PWN-USA will always fight for the humanity, dignity, and full rights of our trans siblings, members, and family to be recognized by the state and by society. These attacks from the highest office in the land pose a direct danger to the safety and human rights of people of trans experience. The administration must reverse and apologize for this ban immediately.
