Nancy Pelosi Went In On The Trump Admin's Proposed Rollback Of Transgender Protections
Just ahead of Pride Month, the Trump administration is rolling out two policy proposals during the week of May 19 that would end anti-discrimination protections for transgender people. They follow a string of other rollbacks of LGBTQ+ protections and while the moves have received praise from anti-LGBTQ+ folks, they've also faced widespread backlash. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California), a frequent critic of the president, was one of many who had something to say, and Nancy Pelosi's response to Trump's HHS proposal ending anti-discrimination protections didn't hold back any feelings, TBQH.
In a statement shared on Friday, May 24, Pelosi took aim at both highly controversial policies. One, announced that same day, is a proposal by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pull back protections for transgender people by changing a rule that prohibited health care providers from discriminating against patients based on their gender identity. Elite Daily previously reached out to the HHS for comment on the subject, but did not hear back by the time of publication. The other, announced on May 22, is a proposal by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that allows homeless shelters and other federally funded housing units to consider sex and gender identity when deciding whether to accept someone. The White House and the HUD did not respond to Elite Daily's previous requests for comment on the proposal.
Responding to the policies in a statement on Friday, Pelosi said the Trump administration has shown "utter contempt for the health, safety and humanity of women and transgender Americans." (The HHS proposal also includes reversing protections for people who've had abortions.)
The message continued:
According to the Trump Administration’s devastating decision to throw open the doors to sex discrimination, women could even be denied basic health care because of their reproductive decisions and history. By rolling back critical protections against discrimination in homeless shelters and the health care system, the Trump Administration is endangering transgender people at some of the most vulnerable and life-threatening moments of their lives. The Administration must reverse these dangerous rules before people get hurt or lose their lives.
"All Americans, regardless of who they are, deserve respect and access to care and support when they are most in need," the statement concluded. Elite Daily reached out to the White House for a response to Pelosi's statement, but did not hear back at the time of publication.
It seems to me the last line in Pelosi's remarks about people deserving "respect and access to care" should resonate with most people as being an objective goal of health care.
Even though Trump's administration has previously taken aim at the transgender community, these new proposals might still come as a shock, considering Trump promised to protect the LGBTQ+ community during his 2016 campaign. It seems like that went out the window once he got elected. For example, just around seven months after his inauguration, Trump banned transgender people from the military, saying in a series of July 2017 tweets that the military should not be "burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail." Recently, he tried to show some support with pride-themed MAGA shirts from his campaign that made headlines on May 23, but even that received massive backlash, given his policies.
Trump has yet to respond to Pelosi's comments on his administration's recent proposals, but maybe her words will be a sort of eye-opener or him. I guess you'll just have to wait and see if these changes are enacted.
