A Response to Announced Revisions to the Definition of Gender

The National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence (NPEIV) is an overarching group of individuals, organizations, agencies, coalitions, and groups that embrace a national, multi-disciplinary and multicultural commitment to violence prevention across the lifespan.

We deplore even the consideration by the current administration to impact the existence of transgender and non-binary Americans by legally defining gender as a “biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth.” If this new definition were formally adopted, it essentially eradicates federal recognition of the estimated 1.4 million Americans who recognize themselves as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth. Not only is this concept dehumanizing, it also reflects an outdated notion that was abandoned long ago by the medical and scientific community as oversimplified and essentially meaningless.

Transgender and non-binary people experience high rates of sexual assault and domestic violence, rates that are even higher for transgender and non-binary persons of color. Any dismantling of the civil rights for transgender and non-binary persons results in making them more vulnerable to assault and with fewer recourse for protection. We need only look at the federal courts and the numerous federal rulings over almost two decades to recognize that federal sex discrimination laws are applicable to all Americans, including transgender people. We stand with our transgender and non-binary citizens in ensuring they #WontBeErased.

NPEIV is committed to reducing interpersonal violence and its consequences through scientific research and application of empirical findings. It is our mission to make the prevention of interpersonal violence a national and international priority and to encourage healthy relationships by linking science, practice, policy and advocacy.

Through our many partnerships and collaborations, it is our vision to end all types of interpersonal violence, for all people, in all communities, at all stages of life. For more information, please visit www.npeiv.org

#WontBeErased #RapidResponse #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TitleIX