Recently, the New York Times reported on a memo in circulation authored by the US's Department of Health and Human Services and is clearly an attempt to undermine and roll back rights only recently won by transgender Amercians. For more details, also see a recent statement from the National Center for Transgender Equality. For more on the problems with the memo's attempt to use science to justify it's definitions, see this PDF of an article in Nature on the topic.
We're targeting the main line of the DH&HS and the Secretary of Health:
- Main line: (800) 368-1019
- Secretary: (202) 690-7000
If you'd like some inspiration for what to say when you call, here's an example of what you might say:
I'm calling today to express my dismay and disapproval of the recently reported on memo from the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the definition of sex for purposes of protections like those afforded by Title IX.
The proposed definition of sex and gender would significantly and materially impact millions of trans, nonbinary, and intersex Americans, including their ability to obtain identification, jobs, housing and healthcare, and would further enable discrimination from employers, landlords, and state and federal governments.
The memo also relies on faulty science as a smoke screen for it's obvious political motivation. The consensus in the medical and scientific communities does not support the assertions from the memo.
I urge the Secretary and the Department to discard the draft, and instead leave those protections in place or even pursue the strenghtening of those protections. Thank you for your time.
If you want to do more, you might donate to a group doing advocacy work in this space. Some time ago Bustle posted a list of organizations doing great work on this front that you could use as a starting point.