Trump Presses Limits on Transgender Rights Over Supreme Court Ruling

The rule, first announced three weeks ago, was published in the Federal Register a month after the Supreme Court ruled that transgender people cannot be fired or otherwise discriminated against in the work force, because federal protections against sex discrimination apply to gay, bisexual and transgender people. The ruling in the case, Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., was a landmark moment for gay and transgender rights.

“Secretary Carson’s insistence on pressing forward with this discriminatory policy — despite the Bostock ruling and clear consensus among experts and service providers opposed to this rule change — betrays a disturbing determination to target and endanger trans Americans,” Representative Jennifer Wexton, Democrat of Virginia, said in a statement.

Transgender rights groups and others are likely to sue to try to block the homeless shelter rule, as they have on other administration regulations on transgender rights. A coalition of 23 Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking to block the Health and Human Services rule on transgender health care under the Affordable Care Act from going into effect next month. The health department did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

“By rolling back rules that ensure the A.C.A. protects all Americans, the president is unlawfully giving health care providers and insurers license to deny care to LGBTQ+ individuals,” New York State Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “It is never acceptable to deny health care to Americans who need it, but it is especially egregious to do so in the middle of a pandemic.”

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of Jesse Hammons, a transgender man, against the University of Maryland Medical System last week, saying that he was denied gender surgery “because the surgery conflicted with the hospital’s Catholic religious beliefs.”

Gabriel Arkles, a senior staff attorney at the A.C.L.U., said he is convinced the Affordable Care Act still protects transgender patients, regardless of what the administration says, but the new policy could discourage transgender people from seeking health care.