Statement from Cecilia Chung, Senior Director of Strategic Projects:
Late last Friday, a terrifying report leaked that the Trump-Pence administration has given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) a list of seven words the agency is now banned from using in budget proposals: “diversity,” “vulnerable,” “fetus,” “entitlement,” “science-based,” “evidence-based,” and yes, “transgender.”
Forbidding the word “transgender” is the administration’s most direct attempt yet to erase us. It is an explicit attack on our survival, intended to increase stigma and destroy life-saving programs and funding that transgender people rely on. By targeting reproductive justice, science, and words like “diversity,” they are also attacking so many other intersecting communities who already face extreme discrimination.
The CDC currently provides millions in funding to community-based organizations addressing the disproportionate rates of HIV/AIDS in transgender communities. Positively Trans, a program TLC launched in 2014 to organize and train transgender people living with HIV in science- and evidence-based advocacy, has thrived in part due to sub-grants originating with federal funding.
Transgender Law Center will not allow this attack to stand. It is a threat to the survival of transgender people of color, those living with HIV, immigrants, and so many other members of our community the administration has singled out time and time again.
We are exploring all options to tackle this in the courts, and we promise to challenge this new attempt to silence and erase us with everything we’ve got.
Are you an individual, organization, researcher, or medical provider directly impacted by this ban? Please share your story with TLC here!