President Joe Biden on Wednesday honored America’s transgender community by declaring “Transgender rights are human rights,” and became the first U.S. President to mark Transgender Day of Visibility with a proclamation.
“Transgender rights are human rights — and I’m calling on every American to join me in uplifting the worth and dignity of transgender Americans,” Biden said on Twitter. “Together, we can stamp out discrimination and deliver on our nation’s promise of freedom and equality for all.”
The Washington Blade was first to report on Biden’s proclamation, which has yet to be officially published. According to the Blade an advance copy says:
Today, we honor and celebrate the achievements and
resiliency of transgender individuals and communities.
Transgender Day of Visibility recognizes the generations of
struggle, activism, and courage that have brought our country
closer to full equality for transgender and gender non-binary
people in the United States and around the world. Their
trailblazing work has given countless transgender individuals
the bravery to live openly and authentically. This hard-fought
progress is also shaping an increasingly accepting world in
which peers at school, teammates and coaches on the playing
field, colleagues at work, and allies in every corner of society
are standing in support and solidarity with the transgender
community.
“Transgender Americans of all ages,” Biden adds, “face high rates of violence, harassment, and discrimination. Nearly one in three transgender Americans have experienced homelessness at some point in life. Transgender Americans continue to face discrimination in employment, housing, health care, and public accommodations. The crisis of violence against transgender women, especially transgender women of color, is a stain on our Nation’s conscience.”
In addition to the violence and discrimination transgender people face, as HRC reports at least 82 anti-transgender bills have already been filed in state legislatures across the country, more than last year’s record of 79.
Last month President Biden also tweeted:
Just five days after taking office he reversed President Donald Trump’s devastating ban on transgender service members: