While some politicians in the Trump administration seem to consider legally redefining gender under Title IX as purely a biological condition determined by a person’s genitalia at birth, according to an October 21 New York Times report on a memo obtained by the paper, another group of politicians and activists are promoting legislation that would provide LGBTQ people with a basic layer of protection from this kind of discrimination: the Equality Act.

The Equality Act was introduced in May 2017 by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) in the House and by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in the Senate, and would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other pieces of federal legislation to make discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity illegal, particularly as they pertain to education, employment, housing, credit, federally-funded programs, federal jury service, and public accommodations, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ-rights non-profit supporting the legislation.

And if the Equality Act is signed into law, and the Civil Rights Act is amended to include protections for LGBTQ people, the Trump administration's proposed regulation regarding gender would be illegal.

“Basically the equality act includes gender identity and sexual orientation as terms that are protected under civil rights law so it would nullify the administration's proposed definition explicitly,” Sarah Trister, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Rep. Cicilline told Teen Vogue. “We believe case law demonstrates that gender identity and sexual orientation are already protected in most federal civil rights law because of the protection of sex. So what the equality act seeks to do is make it very explicit that gender identity and sexual orientation are protected.”

Sen. Merkley echoed Trister’s statement, telling Teen Vogue that the Equality Act is in direct opposition to the President’s memo.

“The president is trying to strip away what protections have been won by the transgender community,” Merkley said. “Meanwhile, the Equality Act is saying just the opposite. We must obliterate discrimination and give everyone an equal opportunity to participate and thrive.”

To be clear, the memo being worked on by the Department of Health and Human Services doesn’t immediately change anything. If it does go into effect, though, the definition of gender will be determined purely in a biological sense under Title IX, meaning the government would no longer recognize transgender and gender-non-conforming people’s genders as legitimate. (Title IX is the law that prevents gender-based discrimination in federally-funded educational institutions.) Whether or not it goes into effect, the memo is seen as another attack against the transgender community (the Trump administration has already undone Obama-era advancements for the transgender community in schools, prisons, and homeless shelters).

One of the strongest ways to circumvent the memo would be to pass the Equality Act. However, it’s likely that the only way that will happen is if Democrats win back the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections.

The Equality Act has 46 sponsors in the Senate, and all of them are Democrats (there are 200 sponsors total), so Sen. Merkley is doubtful that it will even be a topic of conversation among Congressional leaders unless Democrats gain control of the House.

“There is little to no chance of this being acted on in the near future,” Merkley told Teen Vogue. “What is very promising is that the Democrats have a very good chance of taking the House, and Nancy Pelosi has said the Equality Act will be one of the top 10 bills for them to consider in the house.”

According to Five Thirty Eight, Democrats have an 85% chance to gain control of the House of Representatives. In a speech on October 16 at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) promised that passing the Equality Act would be a top priority if Democrats win the House of Representatives.

“So there is a pathway to a national debate on it and a national vote that holds people accountable on where they stand,” Sen. Merkley said. “Discrimination against LGBTQ community is still rampant in every possible way: public accommodation, housing, education and financial assistance or employment, financial lending credit issues, and jury duty in 31 states out of 50. So you can be married in the morning and by the afternoon, face all kinds of legal discrimination in the majority of American states. That's just absolutely unacceptable.”

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