BY: CLAIRE KIM
June: a month of celebration and appreciation for those LGBTQ+ members of our community.
Trump Administration: denies transgender and abortion biased individuals as eligible for health care services by changing the legal definition of sex discrimination in the Affordable Care Act.
This is just blatant gender discrimination. No one deserves to be outcasted from the healthcare system simply for their gender identity. It’s not like we choose to be a certain gender; we are just born with a selected sex that curates to our personal preference as we mature in age.
The fact that Trump can’t seem to discern such inherited qualities–gender, race, ethnicity–as parts to an individual’s brought up identity shows how incompetent he is when it comes to social equality. Just because he isn’t born in the minority, doesn’t make him superior to everyone else and, most definitely, does not give him a reason to treat those with different sexual orientations rudely or mockingly. While claiming that “All Lives Matter” in his political campaigns, Trump’s attitudes and actions towards the LGBTQ+ community clearly don’t align up with this sentiment. In fact, nothing seems to be more hypocritical than this statement.
Though not part of the LGBTQ+ community myself, I feel it’s important for individuals like me to stand up against gender oppression when such controversy occurs. Showing that those outside of the community support the LGBTQ+ movement just as much as the members within it, creates a synergy of respect and inclusivity within our divided country, perpetuating change in social structures. While Trump does wield a great extent of power, our voices, enmeshed with one another, can create just as powerful, if not a more powerful force, pressuring legislation to change his misguided decisions.
“Health advocates representing American hospitals, medical groups, insurers, and civil rights associations” (New York Times) are not the only individuals that need to stand up right now. We all know that health care is a universal privilege, so let’s fight for such equality.
claire kim. 