The National Women’s Law Center led a coalition of 149 organizations—including organizations advocating for disability rights and justice, access to health and human services, LGBTQI+ equality, gender justice, and civil rights broadly—in opposing a rule that seeks to weaken disability nondiscrimination protections for people with gender dysphoria.
Our cross-movement comment counters a proposed rule by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Section 504, the law prohibiting disability discrimination by federal funded entities. The proposed rule falsely asserts that gender dysphoria, a condition many transgender people experience, can never be a disability under Section 504. It claims that recipients of HHS funding can freely discriminate against people with gender dysphoria, opening individuals up to mistreatment and exclusion in critical health and human services.
Our comment demonstrates why the rule is harmful, wrong on the law, and unjustified. It firmly rejects the hateful anti-trans rhetoric HHS has used to justify it, HHS’ attempts to pit our communities against one another, and the broader anti-trans campaign the proposed rule is a part of.