Agenda Summary
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In support of transgender and gender diverse community members.
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Official Text
WHEREAS: The LGBTQIA+ community, particularly the trans and nonbinary community, in Somerville and nationally are being subjected to attacks and erasure by President Trump’s executive action on January 20, 2025 invalidating individual gender identity and stating that the U.S. government will not recognize sexes beyond immutable male and female categorization; and
WHEREAS: President Trump took executive action on January 28, 2025 seeking to end gender-affirming medical treatments for children and teenagers under the age of 19; and
WHEREAS: On January 29, 2025, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management released a memorandum to all federal agencies ending legal recognition of trans people by replacing all forms that request information about “gender” with information about “sex” and taking down all websites, social media accounts, and other outward facing media relating to gender identity; and
WHEREAS: The Human Rights Campaign reported in 2023, fatal violence against transgender and gender diverse people disproportionately impacts the BIPOC community, making up 85% of all victims identified since 2013 with 61.8% of all victims having been Black trans women; and
WHEREAS: Transgender immigrants, refugees, and asylees also face additional persecution due to their immigration status; and
WHEREAS: The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law reports that 17% of sexual minority adults have experienced homelessness in their lives, compared to 6% of cisgender straight people, and that 8% of transgender adults have experienced homelessness in the last year alone, compared to 3% of cisgender people; and
WHEREAS: A survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force reveals that trans people experience extensive discrimination as both renters and homeowners, with 19% of trans respondents reporting that they had been d...
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