Earlier this week, Donald Trump shook up the nation with his decision to rescind the protections for transgender students in public schools, by rolling back the “statements of policy and guidance,” issued by the Obama administration. As a result, several celebrities have come forward to denounce the controversial decision.
LGBT advocate and openly transgender actress Laverne Cox recently took on the topic, revealing that the anti-transgender decisions made by those who oppose is not about bathrooms, but about lack of equality and the mistreatment of transgender individuals.
“They’re trying to get us out and make us not exist anymore and erase us, but we will not be erased,” Cox said on Thursday at the Essence 10th Anniversary Black Women in Hollywood Awards and Gala. “The Obama administration set forth how transgender kids should be treated, and the opposition is sort of making it all about bathrooms.”
“But in addition to allowing transgender students to use the facilities that are consistent with how we identify, [the guidelines] also had protections around gender name, preferred name, and preferred pronouns, and it was really talking about that. So, to take away those sort of guidelines with students feels like we’re moving backwards.”
“I’ve been saying for weeks now, that these anti-transgender bathroom bills are not about bathrooms at all,” Cox continued. “They’re about whether we believe transgender people should exist in public space. It’s really about us having access to public space, because transgender people have been using the bathroom for a long time. We’ve always been here. We’re not going anywhere.”
Your thoughts?
