The LGBTQ community is moving into action as news spreads that the Trump administration is working to strip all protections from transgender people nationwide.

A New York Times bombshell revealed Trump’s Dept. of Health and Human Services is working across the administration to redefine the word “sex” to a narrow and strict definition, one that goes against years of court rulings and Obama administration policy.

“The agency’s proposed definition would define sex as either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals that a person is born with, according to a draft reviewed by The Times. Any dispute about one’s sex would have to be clarified using genetic testing,” The Times reported Sunday in an article titled, “‘Transgender’ Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration.”

People took to the streets immediately.

“Several hundred protesters gathered at Washington Square Park in New York on Sunday evening to oppose the proposals,” The Guardian reports.

As news broke that the Trump administration is seeking to erase legal protections and recognition of trans individuals, hundreds of activists took to Washington Square Park to protest. #TransRightsAreHumanRights #WontBeErased pic.twitter.com/ASEInr0xk4 — Washington Sq. News (@nyunews) October 22, 2018

There is a rally at the White House organized by the National Center for Transgender Equality starting at 12:30 Monday afternoon.

The Human Rights Campaign says the Trump administration’s proposed policy changes will affect all LGBTQ people, offering these examples:

Same-sex couples and their families could be turned away from emergency shelters

A transgender person could have their insurance deny them coverage for transition related care

A gay man could be harassed about being gay at a job skills training

An elderly same-sex couple could be denied in home meal service

A transgender woman could be turned away from a hospital for a broken ankle

Threatening lawsuits, the ACLU says, “Transgender people have the right to not only exist, but to fully participate in public life. Transgender people are real and transgender lives have meaning.”

Across social media the hashtags #WontBeErased, #hellnotothememo, and #TransRightsAreHumanRights are being used to highlight the Trump administration’s attack on the LGBTQ community.

Some examples:

From the National Policy Director for Equality California:

On behalf of our 800,000 members, @eqca will be standing alongside @TransEquality protest at 12:30pm EST tomorrow (October 22) at the White House. We #WontBeErased https://t.co/NX90z3uFu6 — Valerie Ploumpis (@vploumpis) October 22, 2018

The Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality:

The Leadership Conference, headed by former head of President Obama’s US Dept.of Justice Civil Rights Division:

This defies the medical community, science, civil rights laws, the courts, and the dictates of human decency. The civil and human rights community is united and joins with all people of conscience to use every tool at our disposal to stop these proposals. #WontBeErased https://t.co/yAZNVOPVtJ — The Leadership Conference (@civilrightsorg) October 21, 2018

Reminder for the Trump administration: Transgender rights are civil rights. pic.twitter.com/rYIetEQ0oM — The Leadership Conference (@civilrightsorg) October 21, 2018

Lambda Legal:

🗣 #Transgender folks: You are valid. You matter. You are loved.

💗♡💙 ♡💗

We will not stop fighting for your rights and you #WontBeErased by this heartless administration. #TransRightsAreHumanRights — Lambda Legal (@LambdaLegal) October 21, 2018

More:

This has been the agenda for a long time. To definite us out of federal protections. They cannot define us out of existence. And we will not be silent. pic.twitter.com/EgKgUi7su8 — Chase Strangio (@chasestrangio) October 21, 2018

This is my daughter… she is smart and beautiful and brave and has the biggest heart in the world… her future is bright and there are no limits on what she can accomplish… and she #WontBeErased #TransRightsAreHumanRights pic.twitter.com/WlyCcWkEdZ — Paria Hassouri, MD (@pariahassouri) October 21, 2018

It also erases intersex people https://t.co/DKIzXvbyMT — Monica Roberts (@TransGriot) October 22, 2018

#WontBeErased We trans peeps are 1-3% of the world’s population, and part of the diverse mosaic of human life. We aren’t going away pic.twitter.com/AMmOiKrbwQ — Monica Roberts (@TransGriot) October 22, 2018

Trump and his admin do NOT get to decide whether trans people exist or not. #HellNoToTheMemo #ProtectTransLives — Joe Fahed (@joefahed) October 21, 2018

On Sunday the Human Rights Campaign posted this explorer video:

Image by torbakhopper via Flickr and a CC license