House Democrats Introduce ‘Transgender Bill Of Rights’

Mary Margaret OlohanJune 29, 2022

House Democrats introduced a “Transgender Bill of Rights” on Tuesday to “protect and codify the rights of transgender and nonbinary people under the law and ensure their access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security.”

Led by Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, HR 1209 proposes “amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, including gender identity and sex characteristics in public accommodations and federally funded programs and activities.”

The Trans Bill of Rights also proposes amending federal education laws to ensure that students can participate on sports teams “that best align with their gender identity” and use “school facilities that best align with their gender identity” — meaning that biological males could use women’s restrooms and play on women’s sports teams.

“As we witness Republicans and an extremist Supreme Court attack and roll back the fundamental rights of trans people across our country, and as state legislatures across the country target our trans community with hateful, bigoted, and transphobic attacks, we are standing up and saying enough is enough,” said Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and co-chair of the Transgender Equality Task Force.

“Our Trans Bill of Rights says clearly to the trans community across the country that we see you and we will stand with you to ensure you are protected and given the dignity and respect that every person should have,” she added.

Yesterday, on the 53rd Anniversary of #Stonewall, I was proud to join @RepJayapal as a cosponsor of The Trans Bill of Rights, which says clearly to the trans community that we see you and we will stand with you and that #TransLivesMatter.

Learn More: https://t.co/lwA1O3hRtE pic.twitter.com/JUdWB2SXp9

— Rep. Alma Adams (@RepAdams) June 29, 2022

Democratic Reps. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Marie Newman of Illinois, Mark Takano of California, and Ritchie Torres of New York joined Jayapal in introducing the Trans Bill of Rights.

“It’s official: the Democratic Party has gone completely insane,” American Principles Project President Terry Schilling said in a statement. “How else does one explain their doubling down on this radical transgender agenda, on the same day a wide-ranging poll is released showing its deep unpopularity with voters? Do they want to get wiped out in this November’s midterms?”

Schilling insisted that such radical policies will deter Americans.

“Make no mistake,” he warned, “there will be consequences at the ballot box, both this November and beyond.”

As we witness an extremist Supreme Court and state legislatures across the country attack and roll back the fundamental rights of trans people and target trans communities with hateful and bigoted attacks, we are standing up and saying enough is enough.https://t.co/ZepueykOUk

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) June 29, 2022

The measure comes after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which Democrats described as a move that stripped “many of their constitutional right to choose,” warning that the “Court seems poised and willing to take on other hard-earned constitutional rights.”

At least 18 states have passed legislation that bans biological males from women’s sports. Many other states have passed legislation banning transgender surgeries for minors or biological males from women’s restrooms — in a statement accompanying the “Trans Bill of Rights,” Takano claimed GOP lawmakers introduced over 300 “anti-LGBTQ bills.”

Schilling pointed to polling showing that most Americans don’t want biological males in women’s sports.

“Of course, it shouldn’t require a poll to tell us the obvious,” he said. “Americans strongly object to putting men in women’s sports. They don’t want their daughters being forced to share bathrooms and locker rooms with boys. And they don’t think children should be pushed into life-altering and dangerous sex-change procedures at young ages.”