Trump executive orders could have big impact on local LGBTQ community
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — President Donald Trump’s executive order recognizing two genders, male and female, is based on the definition that gender is assigned at birth.
The executive order would determine where transgender people are put in federal custody.
It also determines that someone’s gender at birth is what is designated on federal identification, like licenses and passports.
It’s a move that LGBTQ+ advocates say will expose transgender people against their will.
“I just got my new passport in the mail and they changed the gender to male,” said Zaya Perysian.
“They want me to be scared to crumble back in fear, in some countries it’s illegal to be trans completely so having this on my passport, makes my options limited where I can travel.”
Trump recently signed another executive order, aimed at cutting support for gender-affirming care for people under 19-years-old.
In the order, the Trump administration said in part:
Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding. Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes.
Hospitals in Colorado, Virginia and Washington, DC said Thursday they have paused gender-affirming care for minors as the executive order is evaluated.
At least 26 states have also adopted laws restricting, or banning gender-affirming care for young people.
According to a recent study by JAMA, fewer than one in 1,000 US adolescents with commercial insurance receive gender affirming medications like hormones and puberty blockers during a five-year period.
The researchers found that no patients under age 12 were prescribed hormones.
Gender-affirming care is still available in Rhode Island, but advocates including PVD House are still worried about the executive orders.
“If people aren’t allowed to be who they are, suicide rates go up. That’s a fact,” said Bethany Wood the Executive Director of PVD House.
“We’re worried about freedom. About our safety. We’re not going anywhere. We live here.”
For now, transgender people and allies say they’re prepared for what is ahead while taking a stand to protect their rights.
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