Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'It’s A Reminder That Pain Is A Political Tool': Transgender People Decry Timing Of Proposed Trump Policy So Close To Midterms
The New York Times: Two Weeks Before Midterms, Transgender People Feel Like ‘Pawns’
When the news broke on Sunday morning, many transgender people, world-weary, saw it as grimly predictable: With two weeks to go until the midterm elections, the Trump administration was considering a new move that would undermine federal civil rights protections for the transgender community. This time, they thought, it was the nuclear option. Under the terms of a proposal reported by The New York Times on Sunday, the administration would adopt a narrow definition of gender as an unchangeable biological condition — either male or female — that is determined by genitalia at birth. Such a move would not only roll back protections for transgender people: It could also legally negate their very existence. (Stack, 10/23)
Stat: CDC Director Warns Against Potential ‘Stigma’ Of Trump Transgender Proposal
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday suggested a Trump administration proposal that would define someone’s sex at birth risked heightening stigma around transgender people. The director, Robert Redfield, did not directly criticize the proposal. But when asked whether any such effort might hamper efforts to treat HIV, especially among transgender women, he replied: “We need to understand that stigmatizing illness, stigmatizing individuals is not in the interest of public health.” (Swetlitz, 10/23)
The Washington Post: Trump Administration Proposal To Define Gender As Strictly Biological Worries Parents Of Transgender Children
Since Jamie Harper’s son began middle school in Loudoun County, the teenager has only been known as a boy. His friends don’t know that he was actually born a girl — and his family has had to fight to keep it that way. In the sixth grade, his birth name showed up on his computer during a keyboarding class. The school ultimately agreed to change his name in the system, but required his parents to obtain a court order to do so. The teenager still isn’t allowed to change in the boy’s locker room. He doesn’t like using the staff bathroom as required by the school, so he resorts to waiting until he gets home. “It’s always like, what’s coming next?” Harper said. “Every day we’re worrying about the safety of our kid, every single day.” (Schmidt, 10/23)
