A public hearing involving a resolution about President Trump's anti-transgender military ban is slated to go before the Cook County Commissioners on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 1:30 p.m. at 118 N. Clark St.
Recently elected—and openly gay—Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison is sponsoring the resolution.
Speakers are being sought who might be able to personally speak to the issues raised by the ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. To sign up to comment publicly, visit www.cookcountyil.gov/sites/default/files/speakers_form_inside_fillable_0.pdf .
The resolution is as follows:
A Resolution Condemning The Trump Administration's Treatment Of Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, And Intersex Individuals
WHEREAS, the Trump administration and the Department of Health and Human Services is considering narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth; and
WHEREAS, the Trump administration has banned transgender and gender non-conforming individuals from serving in the United States military; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Board of Commissioners has been informed of this by Commissioner Kevin B. Morrison and LGBTQ advocates; and
WHEREAS, Commissioner Kevin B. Morrison and LGBTQ advocates see this effort as a hateful attempt to roll back recognition and protections of transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex people; and
WHEREAS, this proposed definition by the Department of Health and Human Services would essentially eradicate federal recognition of the estimated 1.4 million Americans who identify as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth; and WHEREAS, this proposed definition would erase children who are born with intersex conditions, which is about 1.7 percent of the population, having been born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't fit the typical definitions of female or male; and
WHEREAS, this position makes irrelevant and discounts what transgender, gender non-conforming and intersex people understand about themselves and discounts what medical providers know and understand about their transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex patients; and WHEREAS, this redefining would force genetic testing to resolve any dispute, denying transgender and gender non-conforming individuals their autonomy and humanity; and
WHEREAS, children born with intersex conditions often have male and female genitalia that do not fit the Trump administration's proposed definitions; and
WHEREAS, the Trump administration's ban on military service by transgender and gender non-conforming individuals does not recognize the incredible sacrifice and service of as many as 15,000 transgender and gender non-conforming troops that are already serving and would be forced to either conceal their gender identity or face discharge; and
WHEREAS, the Trump administration's ban on military service by transgender and gender non-conforming individuals keeps talented and willing individuals out of the military based on a discriminatory policy; and
WHEREAS, Cook County is affirming and welcoming of all individuals to self-identify; and
WHEREAS, Cook County stands with the transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex community and affirms that intersex, gender non-conforming, and transgender people #WontBeErased; and
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Cook County Board President and Cook County Board of Commissioners do hereby honor the identities of transgender, gender non-conforming and intersex people, celebrate them, affirm their lives and call on President Trump and the Department of Health and Human Services to stop any attempt to narrowly define gender as biological; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that suitable copies of this resolution are presented to President Donald J. Trump, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex M. Azar II, and Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan.
