The transgender community faces the same attacks that the Trump administration is weaponizing against immigrant and refugee neighbors. Each of us has an individual identity. Our culture, talents or gender expression are a few examples of this. When someone in power says that we are not worthy of prescribed treatment or are forced to conform to an expression that is not our own, it erodes the fabric of humanity. If we accept this as a country, we are no longer an icon of freedom but a model of dehumanization and authoritarian rule.

The Supreme Court cases Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. that were reviewed this past week are scrutinizing whether to uphold state laws banning transgender athletes from competing in teams of the gender with which they identify. Upholding these laws has far reaching consequences. Instead of protecting the civil rights of transgender individuals, the administration will continue to degrade the rights of transgender individuals as they seek gender-affirming health care, military service, identification and athletics.

When our own administration seeks to uphold and maintain systemic bias present in the laws of our country rather than identify and dismantle them, it harms all Americans and erodes the democratic fabric of our society. Laws have been created to support our civil rights, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, now also under scrutiny. In addition, there are new rules proposed to limit health care for transgender adults and youth through the Department of Health and Human Services, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

I ask our elected and appointed officials to remember that all people need access to medical care and opportunities that sustain their well-being. Parents of trans kids need help to access care and support, not demonization or criminal conspiracies.

I ask our community to come together to hold our public officials accountable to the transgender community at both the state and federal level. Let’s ask them to pledge that they will include transgender individuals, children and adults, in the work that they are doing to support the people of Oregon and beyond. Let’s hold them accountable!

Sherri Jones
Eugene