New Brunswick, N.J. (Oct. 23, 2018) – Rutgers University has several experts available to comment on reports that the Trump administration may narrowly define gender in an effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people under federal civil rights law.
- Perry N. Halkitis, dean of the School of Public Health and director of The Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies. Halkitis is available for comment through Michelle Edelstein at 732-427-6232 or [email protected].
“The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services memo will immediately exacerbate health disparities faced by the trans and LGBTQ communities,” Halkitis said. “Health issues are shaped by the identities that people hold. Moreover, healthcare providers need to attend to the gender identity of their clients to ensure healthy communities. By denying a person their ability to openly and safely express their gender identity and be recognized, the Trump administration is adding another burden to the lives of transgender and LGBTQ individuals, which will have an immediate and negative and impact on their health.”
- Melinda Mangin, an associate professor of education theory, policy and administration in the Graduate School of Education whose work includes creating inclusive school communities for transgender students. Mangin is available for comment at [email protected].
“The Trump administration's plan to redefine gender as being determined by genitalia and confined to man/woman is not supported by advances in medical science,” Mangin said. “To date, 20 medical organizations have released statements recognizing and supporting transgender and gender diverse people. This attempt by the federal government to ignore scientific consensus would take civil rights away from American citizens, putting real people in jeopardy of losing access to jobs, education and health care.”
- Kyla Schuller, an associate professor in the Department of Women's and Gender who studies investigates the intersections between race, gender, sexuality, and the sciences. Schuller is available for comment at [email protected] and 619-865-3998.
“The Trump administration is guilty of a biological fiction,” Schuller said. “There is no such thing as immutable biological sex always identifiable at birth. Biological sex itself has five distinct components, including hormonal sex, chromosomal sex and genital shape. Any of these five factors can and regularly do misalign within one body. Gender, or a person's sex identity and role, was developed by psychologists and scientists in the 1950s as a concept that would stabilize the complexity of identifying biological sex. The most reliable indicator of sex is an individual's chosen sex identity, their gender."
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