Since Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 2025, five (possibly more now) executive orders targeting the rights of trans people have been signed.  These executive orders are attempting to stop any education of trans people in schools, trans healthcare for youth, the ability to change name and gender on legal documents, the ability to play sports matching your gender, allowing a trans person to go to the prison that aligns with your gender, the ability to join and serve in the military,and more. Throughout the nation we’ve seen trans women being kicked off of sports, ruthlessly taken out of women's prison and forced into mens with their gender affirming care taken away, trans people being kicked out of the military, youth denied care that is proven to be life saving, and legal papers changing the gender of trans people to the wrong gender. 

As we watched all this happen  we also saw Worcester and Cambridge declare itself a trans sanctuary along with a few other cities. Brookline should follow through. Massachusetts has long since been a leading state in LGBTQ+ rights and our town has for long valued our diversity and inclusion. We must prove we still stand with trans people. Despite the lies conservatives tell, we know that trans people are valid. We know that medical care is safe and the care children take is not permanent but instead life saving. We know kids aren't being transitioned overnight or at school, and the real process takes years. We know it's safe. We know kids are smart and know about themselves. We know only 1% of trans people regret medically transitioning, and of that percent most of them regret it due to not being accepted. We know trans women aren't threatening women's spaces. There has been no evidence that trans people going to bathrooms that align with gender increase the amount of rape and assault, but evidence against that. We know these laws threaten women however, since its solutions are a gateway to sexual abuse. We know that there is no advantage in sports since a trans woman has to match the correct testosterone levels in order to play, which is the only thing that could be an advantage. We know that taking away the education of people who've existed for thousands of years is horrible. As we watch the president turn a minority made of around 1% of the population into a scapegoat in his dystopian world, we must take a stance and defend democracy and equality. We must protect the lives of trans people. 

So I ask Brookline to promise to everyone, both trans and cis people, that we won’t listen to these orders. That we will make sure hospitals continue trans medical care for all ages (which to be clear can’t happen until after puberty starts) which by the way is still allowed for cis kids who go to puberty too early. We ask that you make sure that schools will continue to teach LGBTQ+ history, that kids can still play sports freely along with trans adults who match the correct testosterone level. That these executive orders cannot harm us or stop our basic rights. 

Works Cited:

Less Than 1% regret rate for transitioning:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8099405/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/2808129
https://www.americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(24)00238-1/abstract

Gender Affirming Care saves lives:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11045042/#:~:text=Numerous%20studies%2C%20primarily%20of%20short,medical%20care%20for%20TGD%20youth
https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/news/gender-affirming-care-saves-lives
https://sph.washington.edu/news-events/sph-blog/benefits-gender-affirming-care
https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/doctors-agree-gender-affirming-care-is-life-saving-care

Trans people won't harm cis women in bathrooms:

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/no-link-between-trans-inclusive-policies-bathroom-safety-study-finds-n911106
https://www.mediamatters.org/sexual-harassment-sexual-assault/15-experts-debunk-right-wing-transgender-bathroom-myth
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326547236_The_Transgender_Bathroom_Debate_at_the_Intersection_of_Politics_Law_Ethics_and_Science

Trans people are likely to get attacked:

https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/ncvs-trans-press-release/
https://reports.hrc.org/an-epidemic-of-violence-2024
https://www.hrc.org/resources/fatal-violence-against-the-transgender-and-gender-expansive-community-in-2024
https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/117016/documents/HMKP-118-JU00-20240321-SD011.pdf

Trans women do not have an advantage in sports:

https://cces.ca/transgender-women-athletes-and-elite-sport-scientific-review
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8944319/
https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/four-myths-about-trans-athletes-debunked

Trans and nonbinary people are valid:

https://www.hrc.org/resources/transgender-and-non-binary-faq#:~:text=Gender%20identity%20and%20gender%20expression%20may%20or%20may%20not%20be,which%20someone%20feels%20most%20comfortable
https://www.hudson.org.au/news/written-in-dna-study-reveals-potential-biological-basis-for-transgender/#:~:text=A%20new%20study%20has%20uncovered,biological%20basis%20for%20gender%20dysphoria
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35329908/

Intersex:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16324-intersex
https://interactadvocates.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/INTERSEX101.pdf

Trump's Executive Orders harm, not help:

https://ilga.org/news/trump-executive-orders-trans-intersex-women/
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2025/01/24/trumps-anti-transgender-executive-order-claims-to-protect-women-but-will-lead-to-real-harms-for-transgender-people-women-and-men/
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2025/01/trans-people-face-violence-due-to-gender-executive-order/
https://lambdalegal.org/newsroom/us_20250129_trump-executive-order-for-department-of-education-actively-puts-lgbtq-students-in-harms-way/
https://www.vox.com/politics/398382/transgender-kids-trans-gender-affirming-care-trump-lgbtq
https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/impact-gac-ban-eo/
https://time.com/7211956/veteran-trumps-trans-military-ban-betrays-troops/
https://apnews.com/article/trump-transgender-troops-executive-order-8373e8f3c4d59a7f99962f62a611be0b
https://www.thecut.com/article/trump-trans-athletes-executive-order-threats-to-women.html