HARRISBURG, Pa. — PA’s only Pennsylvania-based statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization in Harrisburg is releasing the following statement, and has posted a guide for LGBTQ Pennsylvanains on understanding two Executive Orders issued yesterday (“Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions” and “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”) by President Trump.
Executive Orders that target LGBTQ people will cause devastating harm. These policies will significantly increase the experiences trans people have with physical and sexual assault, negative health outcomes, humiliation, and isolation.
Our communities will step up to save and protect lives. For the past two months, PYC has convened biweekly meetings of the Pennsylvania Coalition of LGBTQ Organizations — a network of over 50 LGBTQ community groups — to establish organizing protocols, rapid response communications, and resource sharing, in the face of whatever a new Presidential aministration may try to do to harm LGBTQ people.
These Executive Orders direct actions that agencies under the President must take. However, those directives will take time to implement. As we address the harrowing reality that has been ordered, PYC urges our communities to take on one issue at a time as a specific policy change is formally proposed. For example, while there is now a directive to restrict sex markers on passports to a certain definition of a sex that is characterized upon conception, it has not been defined how that is to be administered nor if currently issued passports will continue to be valid. There is no present information on whether trans Americans or those with X markers on their passports are currently being denied entry at the border today or in the weeks to come. When there is more information presented by the administration, our communities will unite to push back.
Many of these executive actions, if implemented, should rightly be stayed and stricken down by our courts, and reversed by a future President. The policies they propose can not be practically put into effect. Overall, these Executive Orders are vicious and inhumane — they serve no valid public purpose. Cruel, targeted discrimination should never be a legitimate constitutional power of an American President.
The time is now for LGBTQ Pennsylvanians and our allies to rally in support of dignity, equality, and truth. We have endured through difficult times before. Nothing can dissuade us from continuing the push for freedom and justice for all.
###
The Pennsylvania Youth Congress advances freedom and justice for young LGBTQ Pennsylvanians by advocating for responsible public policy. Established in 2011, PYC represents citizens working toward safer schools and thriving communities across the commonwealth. PYC is PA’s only Pennsylvania-based statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization headquartered in Harrisburg.
payouthcongress.org
PYC Summary of President Trump Executive Orders Impacting LGBTQ People