Support the ACLU: Stand Against Anti-Trans Bills & Advance LGBTQ Equality

WHO WE ARE:

The ACLU works to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, & queer people belong everywhere and can live openly and authentically without discrimination, harassment, or violence. The ACLU has a long history of advancing LGBTQ equality, including a Supreme Court victory to secure the right for same-sex couples to marry. Today, the ACLU brings more LGBTQ rights cases and advocacy initiatives than any other national organization.

Below are highlights of our ongoing work to address discriminatory policies from the Trump administration:

Restricting Access to Gender-Affirming Care:

Through an executive order, the President is trying to ban gender-affirming care for transgender people under age 19. In February 2025, the ACLU, Lambda Legal, ACLU of Maryland, and our partners filed a lawsuit on behalf of two transgender young adults and five transgender adolescents and their families whose health care has been disrupted by this order. Also joining the case are PFLAG National, the nation’s largest organization supporting LGBTQ+ people and their families, with over 550,000 members and supporters and nearly 350 chapters across the country; and GLMA, the country’s largest organization of LGBTQ+ and allied health professionals.

Trump's order attempts to force healthcare providers to stop providing gender-affirming medical care for young people altogether – threatening to withhold research and education grants from medical schools and hospitals and pulling Medicare and Medicaid funding for providers who treat trans people under 19. If enforced, the order would deny critical federal funds to hospitals, clinics, doctors, and other providers, leading some provider networks to prematurely cancel appointments with transgender youth and announce they are ceasing care altogether.

In addition, in December 2024, the ACLU, Lambda Legal, ACLU of Tennessee, and our partners were at the Supreme Court to defend access to gender-affirming care in U.S. v. Skrmetti. While it is expected the new administration will reverse the stance of the U.S. government, the case remains briefed and argued, and the Supreme Court must consider the same question of whether Tennessee’s law banning this necessary care violates the Constitution. A decision is expected from the court by June 2025. More about the case here: (https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/supreme-court-adjourns-oral-argument...)

Erasing Trans People:

On his first day back in office, President Trump issued a broad executive order targeting transgender people's equality under the law. This order requires government offices to discriminate against trans people and attempts to deny the existence of our communities.

The EO states: "It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality, and the following definitions shall govern all Executive interpretation of and application of Federal law and administration policy."

Based on our understanding (as of January 22, 2025), this will impact:

- Access to federal identification documents, including passports, visas, and global entry cards.

- Classification of government employees in personnel records.

- Enforcement of some legal protections for LGBTQ people at the agency level, including restroom claims with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

- Transgender people in prison and detention: The order specifically calls on the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ignore the guidelines of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and enforce a blanket policy forcing transgender women into men's prisons and detention centers against their will. This puts them at a severely heightened risk of sexual assault and abuse by other incarcerated persons and prison staff. The order also mandates that BOP withdraw critical health care from trans people in federal prison.

We expect the order may be enforced in other contexts, such as in public schools and sex-separated spaces. It may also be used to limit workplace protections and to limit federally-funded programs that provide access for gender-affirming health care. If federal agencies and departments act to make those risks a reality, the ACLU and other LGBTQ rights organizations will fight them every step of the way.

Targeting a vulnerable group of people and coercing medical providers to stop offering the healthcare they need because of who they are is an unjustifiable abuse of federal power – and we and our partners are ready to stop it in court.

Thank you for your continued support.