Media Contact
Pete Thomson
Chief Communications Officer
American Medical Student Association
Email: pr@amsa.org
AMSA Opposes Reported Federal Definition Excluding Transgender / Gender Non-Conforming Individuals
Sterling, Va., October 24, 2018—According to reporting by the The New York Times on October 21, 2018, the Trump administration intends to create a federal definition of gender that would specifically exclude transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex identities. The memo draft from the Department of Health and Human Services seeks to narrowly define gender as “male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth.”
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) strongly opposes this proposed definition. Such a definition stands contradictory to the prevailing view of sex and gender shared by AMSA, the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA), and other health care professional and student associations, who recognize that gender is non-binary and cannot be determined solely by traits at birth. It also denies the dignity and erases the existence of transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex individuals, and places them at high risk for losing whatever protections that have been gained for their civil rights and for increased stigmatization, invisibility, and health/health care disparities.
AMSA stands in solidarity with the transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex communities and will continue to oppose any attempts at their erasure or roll-back of their rights.
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About the American Medical Student Association:
AMSA is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. Founded in 1950, AMSA is a student-governed, non-profit organization committed to representing physicians-in-training, advocating for quality and affordable health care for all, and building the next generation of physician leaders. To join our community, visit amsa.org.
