This week Massachusetts voted to protect the rights of transgender people in their state. This comes after a leaked memo from the Department of Health and Human Services said the Trump administration wants to narrow the definition of sex. Raven Matherne, Connecticut’s first openly transgender elected official, explained how this would deny rights to healthcare for millions like her.
Matherne pulled out a chair at her parents’ dining room table. She made sure her donut cushion was in place before she sat down. She’s still recovering from bottom surgery. That means...
“I’ve got a c-cup, and I don’t have a phallus.”
Matherne described the moment she read the New York Times and learned the Trump administration would redefine “sex as either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals that a person is born with.”
“I was literally laying in bed after my surgery at a time where I should be excited about getting to submit to have my birth certificate gender marker change. And instead of getting to go through what should be an exciting time in my life, to finally take ownership of my body that was never mine before. Instead I’m in bed thinking, ‘Oh my god I have to get my paperwork together and hope to goodness that I can get a passport.’”
Matherne said if the gender on her ID doesn’t match her appearance then she would be outed at places like the airport. And if the federal health agency stops recognizing her gender identity, insurers and providers would be able to restrict coverage for services that help people transition genders.
“So when you start narrowing the definitions of these terms, and what ends up happening, is you give license to deny people rights to healthcare that they need access to.”
Needs like counseling, hormone therapy and...surgery. But the head of Health and Human Services said the Department is committed to protecting the health and dignity of all people.
“We are committed to enforcing the laws, as passed by Congress…including laws that protect against discrimination in healthcare and human services,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said on the PBS NewsHour.
A federal judge in Texas ruled recently that Congress never defined sex to include gender identity. But he Obama administration did. Azar said, “We’re actually subject to a court order and are following that court order.”
That order is from the same federal judge who sided with a network of Christian hospitals. He ruled the Affordable Care Act bans sex discrimination by law but said Obama’s broad definition of “sex” was an “executive overreach.” He ordered the Trump administration to stop using that interpretation temporarily.
“If they change this interpretation, they’ll essentially undermine federal recognition of gender identity for millions of people,” according to David McGuire, executive director for ACLU of Connecticut. McGuire said even if federal policy changes, the state still bans discrimination of transgender people.
“The state law here from 2011 will continue to protect people regardless of what Donald Trump does, and if they do go forward there’s going to be the very strong likelihood of a legal challenge.”
McGuire said some federal judges have upheld the gender identity protections in healthcare before.
Back at her parents’ house, Raven Matherne said access to mental healthcare was vital during her transition, especially after she lost her job when she first came out.
“When I decided to transition there was a choice, and that choice for me was I can’t keep doing what I’m doing, I am too miserable and it’s getting worse. My decision was: do I transition or do I kill myself? Since making the decision not to kill myself and to transition, I believe that I also made the choice to actively participate in every aspect of this world because every day I’ve chosen to be here now.”
Matherne has a seat on the Stamford City Council, and she doesn’t want to be ignored by any government agency. The Department of Health and Human Services has not said when it officially plans to change its interpretation of gender.
