Donald Trump’s Attack on LGBTQ People has Begun. He Started with the Children.
Last night, Trump began his first attack against LGBTQ people, going after transgender children first. With the support of Jeff Sessions, attorney general, and Betsy DeVos, secretary of education, Trump rescinded Obama’s order which stated transgender children should use the correct bathrooms, the one that aligns with their gender. The order was already on a temporary hold due to lawsuits from states opposed to allowing trans children safe access to bathrooms, however Trump’s administration could have chosen to fight the challenge, as Obama’s did. Instead they threw trans kids under the bus. The rest of the LGBTQ community should take note, Trump stated that this basic human right, the right to use public restrooms, was a states’ rights issue. This has been the same excuse used by racists, homophobes, and now transphobes to fight against civil rights of minority groups since this country was founded. It’s that rhetoric that tells all LGBTQ people that they’re next.
Transgender people benefit immensely by coming out and transitioning early. They can prevent the emotionally scarring experience of going through puberty the wrong way, experience growing up as themselves, more seamlessly medically transition as an adult, and live happier, longer lives. New studies show that when transgender children are allowed to come out and live as their true selves at an early age, they don’t develop the same self loathing attitude. They feel loved, accepted, and don’t experience depression. Right now, over 40% of transgender people have attempted suicide in their lives. Most of these people were adolescent children when they made their first attempt. Kids are killing themselves. An easy way to prevent that is to not make these children feel ostracized, to allow them to go to school and be normal kids, to pee in the proper bathroom. Rescinding this order is, without a doubt, is going to lead to higher suicide rates for children.
You might be wondering, are bathrooms really that important? If you want the simple answer, yes, they are. This is the difference between fostering an accepting attitude at a school and one where it seems acceptable to bully trans kids. Laws that protect trans rights allow children to learn in a safe environment. That’s what school should be, a safe environment for learning. Removing these protections prevents children who may have moved or transferred schools after transitioning to fit in at their new school as themselves. A student could be suspended or even expelled for using their correct bathroom now. They could get detentions for being late to class because they had to run to a gender neutral faculty bathroom. And this goes beyond schools too. If Trump won’t defend trans rights of children, he certainly won’t defend those of adults. Soon it could be possible to be arrested for looking like you might be in the “wrong” bathroom.
Trans people are valid. I shouldn’t have to point that out, but I will. It is not a mental disorder, the DSM-5 says so. Children know at an incredibly early age and all evidence states that they should transition socially as soon as possible, finding love and acceptance from their family members and peers. They can then medically transition later in life if they choose to. This isn’t up for debate. In the medical community, this is as settled as climate change and the fact that the earth is round for scientists.
Civil rights, basic human rights, are not a states’ rights issue. A person shouldn’t have to look up local state laws before knowing what public bathroom they can be arrested for using. If even one child feels ostracized for this, even one child commits suicide over this, then that’s obviously one too many. Their struggles and even deaths will be on the hands of Trump, Sessions, DeVos, Republicans, and their supporters. I can’t imagine how they’d live with themselves knowing they directly caused an increase in childhood depression and suicide. I don’t know how someone could live with themselves for not fighting back.
