Lady Gaga has blasted President Donald Trump over his highly controversial gender policies, claiming that his administration is living in an “alternate universe.”
The singer’s statement comes after it was revealed that the government is working on a proposal that would determine an individual’s gender accordingly to the sex listed on their birth certificate, “unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence,” Sky News reported. The decision would have a lasting impact on the lives of people who identify as transgender or non-binary, as it would stop them from legally changing their gender later in life.
“The government may be living in an alternate universe, but we as a society & culture know who we are and know our truth and must stick together and raise our voices so we can educate them about gender identities,” Gaga, 32, said in a Twitter statement.
“While today you might feel unheard or unseen, know that this is not the reality of humanity. This is another display of leadership being driven by ignorance.”
She also used the hashtags #TransRightsAreHumanRights and #WontBeErased. The pop star has been a vocal supporter of the LGBT community ever since she rose within the ranks of the music industry, particularly espousing said views in one of her first hit singles, “Born This Way.” She has also publicly spoken about her bisexuality, and was one of the key speakers at the national equality march in Washington — where she again expressed her support for the LGBT movement.
“They want to make us afraid, but we need to not be afraid. This policy has not been implemented yet. We can fight it.”
– @Lavernecox tells @HallieJackson on Trump admin. proposal that would reportedly counter transgender protections. pic.twitter.com/iOpVgWg6h7
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 23, 2018
The New York Times first reported on an unreleased memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which contained details of the alleged proposed gender law changes. The memo said: “The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.”
The current administration’s proposed policy would also undermine the work done by former U.S. President Barack Obama, whose efforts focused on protecting the transgender community under civil rights laws in the health care sector, in schools, and in the military. But on Monday, Donald Trump said that he was “protecting everybody” when asked about the promises that he had made to the LGBT community during his campaign.
Many doctors have said that the laws, if put in place, would be “impossible to apply to intersex babies who are born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that do not fit conventional categories,” Sky News reports. According to a survey by the Williams Institute in 2016, around 1.4 million adults identify as transgender in the United States.
