Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has declared that gender dysphoria is no longer protected under a critical piece of legislation meant to protect people with disabilities from discrimination.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act protects people with disabilities from discrimination by programs and activities run by federal agencies or that receive federal funding. Gender dysphoria was included in the preamble to the Biden administration’s final rule on the section, but it was not mentioned in the body text. As such, Kennedy said protections for those with gender dysphoria are not legally binding.

Related

Trans woman allegedly turned away from hotel because “people like you can’t stay here”
Sadie Vice reserved a hotel room online but was turned away when she showed up. Now an employee is offering up excuses.

“Language in the preamble concerning gender dysphoria, which language is not included in the regulatory text, does not have the force or effect of law,” he wrote in a recently released memo. “Therefore, it cannot be enforced.”

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Kennedy concluded by saying the law is clear on this matter but that he issued the notice “out of an abundance of caution,” which seems to communicate that he wanted to make sure federal agencies and programs receiving federal funding know that it’s permissible to discriminate against folks with gender dysphoria.

Advocates considered the Biden-era rule critical to ensuring trans people could obtain reasonable accommodations and could pursue legal options when those accommodations were denied to them due to their gender identity.

“Removing gender dysphoria as a protected disability is yet another angle of attack on transgender rights by the Trump administration,” Allison Chapman, an LGBTQ+ legislative researcher, told Truthout. “This opens up those with gender dysphoria to discrimination in the workplace, school, and pretty much all aspects of life, without legal recourse.” 

Kennedy’s notice comes after 17 GOP attorneys general – led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton – filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s addition of gender dysphoria to Section 504. While the attorneys general have claimed they are exclusively targeting the Biden administration’s addition of gender dysphoria, disability advocates feared the lawsuit’s general language could threaten the sanctity of the entire statute.

“It would affect so many people that every person in our state — really, in our country — should be concerned,” Louisiana attorney Charlotte Cravins told Stateline. Cravins has a son who has Down syndrome and is blind in one eye. “If they can erase protections for disabled children, then who’s next?”

A report from the Department of Education stated that during the 2020-2021 school year, 1.6 million students with disabilities were served under Section 504.

Cravins also accused the attorneys general of lying about what the lawsuit could do. “For them to say one thing and the lawsuit to say another, I can’t imagine it’s anything other than them being disingenuous with their constituents.”

Ryan Renaud, a school board representative for a major Alabama school district, said Section 504 protects students who have anything from ADHD to diabetes to heart disease. “When a student doesn’t have those accommodations, they become less secure in class and teachers are less able to manage their classrooms,” Renaud said.

In response to Kennedy’s memo and Paxton’s lawsuit, disability advocates are speaking out about the importance of trans people and those with disabilities standing together.

“It’s clear that the Trump administration and the Republican party are willing to throw disabled people under the bus in pursuit of their bigoted, transphobic agenda,” New Disabled South cofounder Dom Kelly told Truthout. “But even more, it’s clear that they don’t understand gender dysphoria or disability. At this point, the disability community needs to realize that this is just the beginning, and if we are to mitigate any of the harm this administration does, we have to remain in solidarity with the trans community.”

Disability justice collective DISrupt West Virginia added that they are ready to stand up for their community. “504 has protected disabled people for 50 years. If they think we’ll let them gut it without a fight, they haven’t met DISrupt.”

“RFK Jr. pointing out that the preamble isn’t law isn’t news,” the group also said, “it’s exactly why we’ve been calling on attorneys general to drop this performative lawsuit before it causes real harm.”

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.