News

Gavin Grimm testifies on civil rights after 100 days of Trump

Panel witness decry review of consent decrees, voter ID laws

Published

9 years ago

April 6, 2017

Chris Johnson

Gavin Grimm testifies before Congress on April 6, 2017. (Screen capture courtesy Washington Blade Facebook)

Transgender student Gavin Grimm testified before Congress Thursday on the experience of his Virginia high school denying him access to the bathroom consistent with the gender identity as well as harms the Trump administration’s withdrawal of pro-trans guidance has caused for transgender people.

Gavin made the remarks during a congressional forum hosted by U.S. House Democrats on the state of civil rights after the first 100 days of the Trump administration. Witnesseses sharply criticized the Trump administration — in particular the U.S. Justice Department under U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions — for failing to live up to equal protection under the law.

Currently suing his school for bathroom access in a lawsuit the U.S. Supreme Court was once poised to consider, but later rejected, Gavin recalled the pain he felt during hearings in which the Gloucester County School Board decided to refuse to treat him consistent with his gender identity.

“World had spread throughout the community, and people turned up in droves,” Gavin said. “After each frenzied remark, clapping and hollering reverberated throughout the room. I sat while people called me a freak. I sat while my community got together to banish a child from public life for the crime of harming no one. I sat while my school board voted to banish me to retrofitted broom closets or the nurse’s room.”

As Gavin narrated his story, the microphone system for the room in the Rayburm House Office Building cut out, prompting one forum participant to quip, “The Democrats do not control this room.” Invited by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), who was chairing the forum, to speak closer to the dais from a podium, Gavin continued his story.

Recalling the pledge from the White House that President Trump would be “respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights,” Gavin said the administration’s decision to nix Obama-era guidance assuring transgender kids bathroom access in accordance with their gender identity “could not have been more damaging for trans youth.”

“The guidance had a very simple message: Treat trans students with dignity and respect them for who they are,” Gavin said. “Treating trans students with dignity and respect should not be controversial. The decision to withdraw the guidance sent a terrible message to some of the most vulnerable people that President Trump – the leader of our country – and his administration do not care about protecting you from discrimination.”

After Gavin completed his testimony, attendees at the forum clapped for a lengthy amount of time. Conyers commended him, saying he’s a “courageous young man and you deserve our support and applause.”

Catherine Lhamon, chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and former assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department under the Obama administration, made the transgender guidance rollback a major point of concern during testimony in which she said civil rights under the Trump administration has been “horrendous.”

“It will not surprise this body that that withdrawal offended me because I signed that guidance when I was assistant secretary of civil rights,” Lhamon said.

Lhamon called Trump administration claims the guidance was withdrawn because of improper procedure and incorrect interpretation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 “categorically untrue,” citing “the many years that all the relevant agencies” spent investigating the facts and speaking the school administrators.

“To think more that whether a federal law that Congress wrote that says explicitly that no person in the United States shall be subject to sex discrimination in school applies to transgender students questions the very humanity of transgender students,” Lhamon said.

Lhamon also took issue with the appointment of Roger Severino, a former researcher for the anti-LGBT Heritage Foundation, to the role of assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Health & Human Services. Once in the position of being critical of the Obama administration’s efforts to ensure transgender people have access to transition-related care, Severino will now be charged with protecting transgender people in health care.

“I will never forget how I heard from former HHS civil rights director about a case in which emergency medical professionals refused to treat a transgender women because she is transgender,” Lhamon said. “She later died, although she had a better than 35 percent of survival had she received appropriate and timely medical care. It should go without saying that the director of HHS civil rights should be committed to ensure the fair medical treatment for all persons, regardless of identity status.”

The issue of transgender rights was but one issue before the forum that sought to address the multitude of challenges the civil rights community after 100 days of the Trump administration.

Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, expressed a dismal view of the current state of civil rights as he chaired the forum, referencing a “documented loss in the overall climate of equality” and rise in hate violence since the 2016 election.

“Minority communities have been justifiably concerned about the continued role of the federal government in protecting civil rights,” Conyers said. “The Trump presidential campaign promised meaningful changes that would benefit minorities in the area of crime, equal justice and economic equality, his political allies and surrogates to the media have sent a different message that served to heighten national divisions and anxiety.”

DOJ criticized for consent decree review

A central issue was the decision this week of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to review the consent decrees the U.S. Justice Department had arranged with police departments after patterns of unconstitutional racial discrimination and excessive force, including the shootings of black men.

Chiraag Bains, senior fellow at Harvard Law School Criminal Justice Policy Program and former senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights under President Obama, cited the review as evidence the Justice Department has been “predictably disastrous” on civil rights.

“This administration insists that policing is a purely local matter into which the federal government should not intrude,” Bains said. “But we’re not talking about a federal takeover of these departments. We’re talking about the enforcement and protection of constitutional rights. There is no federalism problem.”

Ron Davis, former director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the Justice Department, invoked the words of 19th Century British statesman Robert Peel to describe the appropriate relationship between the police and communities as defined under the consent decrees.

“People comply with the law not because of they are afraid of the police, they comply with the law because they believes the law is fair, just and will be enforced appropriately and without bias,” David said. “People should be afraid of police. They should not have to run from them because they’re going to be deported or think that every infraction will result in arrest.”

But Sessions’ order to review the consent decrees was but one issue to witnesses pointed as evidence the Trump administration was failing to live up to responsibilities on civil rights.

Joe Rich, co-director of the Fair Housing & Community Development Project, raised as a civil rights issue the rollback of voter access to the polls, including early voting cutbacks and the imposition of state voter ID laws.

Although defenders of those laws say they’re intended to prevent voter fraud, Rich said that’s “very rare,” citing a recent study that found the incident rate of voter fraud ranges between .003 percent and .0025 percent.

“Given this tiny incident rate for voter impersonation, the report concluded that is more likely that an American will be struck by lightning than he will impersonate voter at the poll,” Rich said.

Rich said the Justice Department had “vigorously prosecuted” against the voter ID law in Texas for three years, but the U.S. government has “reversed course” with Sessions at the helm in “an action of great concern for all of us doing voting rights work.”

Roy Austin, former director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs, Justice & Opportunity under the Obama administration, took particular issue with the travel ban Trump signed barring immigration into the United States from six Muslim countries, calling it an attempt to “legalize discrimination against an entire faith.”

Although the administration billed the measure as an means to keep potential terrorists from the United States, Auston said “state-endorsed discrimination diminishes public safety.”

“In my humble opinion, this greatest current threat to civil rights in this great nation is this current administration,” Austin said. “In record time, the current administration has already shown not simply a willingness to not defend civil rights, but a shown an intent to violate civil rights, and, at a minimum, with an intent to make it easier for others to violate civil rights.”

Chief Hassan Aden, a member of the steering committee for Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration and former chief of police of the Greenville Police Department, took issue with greater authority of U.S. Customs & Border Protection to detain travelers entering the United States.

“What’s happening now is there’s sort of this second-class of American citizen being built out, and it involves names and religious preferences, and it’s something that we all need to resist and work against,” Aden said.

Aden recalled his own experienced this year being detained by CBP at JFK International Airport upon re-entry into the United States, which attributed to his Muslim-sounding name. Aden said this incident stands out because he travelled internationally in years past, including five times last year, without issue.

“My name being Hassan Aden, I think, set off a flag,” Aden said. “I utilized my platform and my reach to highlight this issue and give it a voice. There are so many people that this happens to. My detention was 90 minutes. There are people whose detention is significantly longer.”

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) held nothing back in her assessment of Trump on civil rights in the wake of the Justice Department reviewing consent decrees with police departments.

“This may be the Armageddon,” Lee said. “We may be seeing the most dangerous Department of Justice that we have seen in decades. I don’t think it is hyperbole; I don’t think it’s hysteria.”

Referencing the plight Gavin continues to face by being denied bathroom access in his school, Lee assured him, “You are not alone. We know the decision of the Supreme Court, but we’re not finished with bringing you relief.”

Other lawmakers present at the hearing were Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), top Democrat for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce; Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus; and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas).

At the end of the hearing, Lee asked Gavin for his thoughts on the impact of the Justice Department taking an ideological position against transgender rights, which Gavin would only be harmful.

“We see a very real and immediate negative impact on those communities,” Gavin said. “The transgender community is uniquely vulnerable already in that we have less legal protection, we have a higher rate of hate crimes, mental illness, homelessness, unemployment, and then to have a complete and total lack of administrative support, and, in fact, a presence of a administrative intimidation or disregard, the effects of such a negative message across the board would be absolutely devastating.”

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India

India’s Jharkhand state works to improve trans people’s access to health care

People for Change working with local officials to address disparities

Published

3 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Ankush Kumar

Jkarhkand State Health Minister Irfan Ansari, right, meets with local LGBTQ activists. (Courtesy photo)

The transgender community has been part of India’s social fabric for centuries, but decades of policy neglect pushed many into poverty and inadequate health care.

The Supreme Court formally recognized trans people as a third gender in 2014, yet state-level services developed slowly. Telangana opened India’s first dedicated trans clinic, the Mitr Clinic, in 2021 with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development and Johns Hopkins University. Jharkhand State has now ordered all government hospitals and medical colleges to establish dedicated outpatient units for transgender patients.

People for Change, an LGBTQ organization, spent the past year mapping gaps in trans health care across Jharkhand. Its surveys of 100 trans residents in five districts found limited access to gender-affirming care, hormone therapy, dermatology, and mental-health services. The group followed this survey with a May 2025 consultation in Jamshedpur, an industrial town in Jharkhand, that brought together clinicians and community leaders to outline a feasible outpatient model.

Those findings were presented to Health Minister Irfan Ansari in June, backed by input from allied organizations and more than 50 trans leaders. The process helped inform the state’s decision to introduce dedicated trans outpatient departments in all government hospitals and medical colleges.

People for Change, which played a central role in shaping the policy, noted that government hospitals in Jharkhand still face infrastructure and resource gaps. Even so, the group said the order reflects a clear policy commitment to creating dedicated trans health services.

If Jharkhand’s trans outpatient departments system functions as planned, it could become a regional model for states with comparable gaps in public health access.

Government data from the 2011 Census — the latest official count to identify an “other” gender category — lists 13,463 trans residents in Jharkhand, alongside sizable populations in neighboring states: 40,827 in Bihar, 30,349 in West Bengal, 22,364 in Odisha, 18,489 in Chhattisgarh, and 137,465 in Uttar Pradesh. Though likely underreported, these figures underscore the scale of need across eastern and central India.

“The decision to start dedicated transgender OPDs (outpatient departments) is not just an administrative step — it is a statement of inclusion, a recognition that the transgender community deserves discrimination-free, dignified, and responsive healthcare. When the government takes such a deliberate step, it sets a tone for systemic change,” said Souvik Saha, founder of People for Change. “It creates an official entry point for transgender healthcare.”

“For the first time, transgender persons will have a recognized and respectful space within the public health system,” added Saha. “That itself is a major shift. It signals to doctors, nurses, and administrators that transgender health is a priority. This leads to sensitization, accountability, and the gradual improvement of attitudes within hospitals.”

Saha told the Washington Blade the policy is likely to trigger broader improvements, noting that once a service is formally notified, budget allocations, training, infrastructure, and staffing typically follow. He said the move could strengthen the system gradually, “step by step.”

“We are realistic: we know improvements won’t happen overnight. But we are also optimistic because the state has already shown genuine leadership and empathy by issuing this order,” said Saha. “And since Jharkhand is celebrating its 25th year of formation, this decision reflects the state’s intention to move towards greater equality and social justice.”

“For the transgender community, this is not just a service — it is dignity. It is visibility. It is inclusion,” he added. “And with the government, civil society, and community working together, we believe this will lead to meaningful and lasting change in the years ahead.”

Saha told the Blade that the dedicated transgender outpatient will operate within existing government medical colleges and hospitals in Jharkhand and will be staffed by current medical and paramedical teams, with no separate funding required at this stage. He said the policy does not call for separate wards or beds, but for clearly designated outpatient spaces for trans patients. The service, he added, will be run by existing staff who will receive training and orientation as needed.

“At this moment, the specific operational details are still being discussed with the government of Jharkhand. However, what is clear is: the OPD will function as a dedicated space within the hospital, not limited to a specific day,” said Saha. “Transgender individuals will have access to focused, discrimination-free services through this dedicated space. The clinic will run through existing hospital systems, with linkages to psychiatry, dermatology, endocrinology, and other departments when required.”

“This structure allows the government to start services immediately without needing new construction, new staff positions, or separate budget lines,” he added. “It is a practical and efficient first step, making the service accessible while keeping the doors open for: future budget allocations, specialized staffing, expansions into gender-affirming services, and strengthened infrastructure. The government’s intent is very clear: to ensure dignified, equitable, and discrimination-free healthcare for the transgender community. This order is a strong beginning, and operational details will continue to evolve through collaborative discussions between the government, hospitals, and People for Change.”

Saha acknowledged that taboos, misinformation, and stereotypes about the trans community persist in Jharkhand and in many other states. However, Saha said there are encouraging models at which to look.

He pointed to Kerala and Chhattisgarh, which have introduced sensitization programs and begun integrating trans-inclusive practices into their public health systems. These examples, he noted, show that when health departments invest in training and awareness, attitudes shift and services become more respectful and accessible.

“In Jharkhand, People for Change has proposed a similar approach. We have formally recommended to the government that civil surgeons, chief medical officer, doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff be trained on gender sensitization and transgender health challenges. This includes understanding gender identity, psychological needs, respectful communication, medical protocols, and ways to ensure discrimination-free services,” said Saha. “The encouraging part is that these proposals are already being discussed in detail with the government of Jharkhand. The government has shown strong intent through the issuance of the transgender OPD order, and training health professionals is naturally the next crucial step.”

Saha noted that it remains unclear whether trans people will be recruited into government health roles, saying it is too early to make any definitive statement. He explained that recruitment requires separate processes, policies, and approvals, and the current order does not address new staffing or the creation of government positions.

A recent performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the constitutional authority responsible for auditing government spending and administration, outlined severe human-resource and medicine shortages across Jharkhand’s public health system.

Tabled in the state assembly in February, the report found that about 61 percent of sanctioned posts for medical officers and specialists were vacant, along with more than half of all staff-nurse positions and roughly four-fifths of paramedic posts. The audit also documented acute shortages of essential drugs in the hospitals it reviewed, with stock gaps ranging from 65 to 95 percent during the 2020-2022 period. The findings highlight the systemic constraints that the new trans outpatients will have to navigate.

Saha acknowledged that drug shortages remain a serious issue in government hospitals and said the concern is valid. Even so, he added that he is approaching the new outpatient policy with hope and confidence.

“The government of Jharkhand has made a historic and intentional decision by opening dedicated transgender OPDs,” said Saha. “When a government takes such a strong step of recognition and inclusion, it also shows the readiness to understand the specific health challenges and medication needs of the transgender community.”

“As more transgender persons start coming to the OPDs and their health requirements become clearer through proper documentation and reporting, we are confident that the state will make every effort to ensure that essential medicines are available for them,” he added.

Saha said People for Change is also seeking support outside the public system. The organization has begun briefing civic service groups — including Lions Club, Rotary Club and Inner Wheel, international volunteer organizations that run local welfare and health projects — on the outpatient order and the community’s needs. According to Saha, several of these groups have indicated they may help trans patients with medicines and other essentials when prescribed by a doctor.

“So the effort is two-fold: the government is creating an inclusive health system and will be informed of the community’s specific medicinal needs through the OPDs. People for Change and partners are strengthening the safety net to ensure that transgender persons are never left unsupported,” said Saha. “We truly believe that this collaborative approach will ensure that transgender individuals receive the medication and care they deserve — with dignity, consistency, and compassion.”

“Every hospital may take a slightly different amount of time depending on internal readiness, but overall: The foundational work is already underway, Hospitals have started preparing their designated OPD spaces, And coordination is happening at the level of civil surgeons, medical superintendents, and hospital management teams,” he added.

Local

Comings & Goings

Heng-Lehtinen joins Trevor Project as SVP

Published

1 day ago

November 28, 2025

Peter Rosenstein

Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].

Congratulations to RODRIGO HENG-LEHTINEN on his new role as Trevor Project Senior Vice President of Public Engagement Campaigns. On accepting the position, he said, “My mission has long been to stop LGBTQ, and especially trans, people from being perceived as political footballs and start getting us seen as real people – your friends, your families, your neighbors. Now I get to focus on that 100% at The Trevor Project.”

Prior to this, he was executive director, Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), where he co-led the merger of two national transgender rights organizations, NCTE and TDLEF, to create the new organization. He had served as executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, leading that organization through a period of growth, restoring organizational size and stability. He had served as deputy executive director prior to that. Previously he served as vice president of Public Education, Freedom for All Americans, where he led a successful campaign for transgender nondiscrimination protections in New Hampshire. He oversaw a full range of legislative lobbying, field organizing, and communications strategies and oganized a leadership coalition, established structure, and divided roles for key committees of 17 state and national partner organizations and local activists.

Heng-Lehtinen conducted English-language interviews with outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, and Politico. He planned a Transgender Leadership Summit for the Transgender Law Center and served as Development & Donor Services Assistant, Liberty Hill Foundation. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies from Brown University.

Local

D.C., Va., Md. to commemorate World AIDS Day

Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle will hold a Mass, candlelight prayer vigil

Published

3 days ago

November 26, 2025

Shreya Jyotishi

Washingtonians participate in a World AIDS Day candlelight vigil in Dupont Circle in 2021. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The D.C. area will observe World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 through a variety of community events.

Established by the World Health Organization in 1988, World AIDS Day aims to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and honor the individuals affected by the epidemic. The global theme for 2025 is “overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response.”

Washington

DC Health will host a World AIDS Day event at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library from noon to 9 p.m on Dec. 1. Attendees can expect live performances, free food and free HIV testing.

The all-day event will also feature community resources from DC Health, DC Public Library, DC Health Link, Serve DC, and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.

The Lily and Earle M. Pilgrim Art Foundation is partnering with Visual AIDS, a New York-based non-profit that uses art to fight AIDS, to reflect on World AIDS Day with a film screening on Dec. 1.

The David Bethuel Jamieson Studio House at Walbridge in Mount Pleasant will premiere “Meet Us Where We’re At,” an hour-long collection of six videos. The free screening highlights the complexity of drug use in intersection with the global HIV epidemic.

The videos, commissioned by artists in Brazil, Germany, Nigeria, Puerto Rico and Vietnam, showcase the firsthand experience of drug users, harm reduction programs, and personal narratives. The program intends to showcase drug users as key individuals in the global response to HIV.

In addition to streaming the videos, the event will include an evening potluck and conversation led by Peter Stebbins from 6-8 p.m.

The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle will hold a 5:30 p.m. Mass and candlelight prayer vigil at 6 p.m. in honor of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. The event is open to all and includes a subsequent reception at 6:30 p.m.

The Capital Jewish Museum is hosting a speaker series on Dec. 2 from 6:30-8 p.m. that explores the response to AIDS within the Jewish community. Speakers include LGBTQ psychiatrist Jeffrey Akman, physician assistant Barbara Lewis and Larry Neff, lay service leader at Bet Mishpachah, a synagogue founded by LGBTQ Washingtonians. Heather Alt, deputy director of nursing at Whitman-Walker Health, will moderate the event.

The program is free for museum members. General admission is $10 and Chai tickets, which help subsidize the cost of general admission, are $18. Tickets include access to LGBT Jews in the Federal City, a temporary exhibition that collectively explores Washington, Judaism, and LGBTQ history. The exhibition is on view through Jan. 4, 2026.

Virginia

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and local residents will commemorate World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 at the Lee Center.

The event, which is free to attend, will include music, choir performances, educational moments and more. The commemoration will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Maryland

The Frederick Center will host talks, tabling and a raffle in honor of World AIDS Day. The Frederick County Health Department will conduct free HIV testing.

The event, which is free to attend, will be held on Nov. 30 from 1-4 p.m. The Frederick County Health Department always offers free, walk-in HIV testing on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Prince George’s County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority will host a community day of awareness in honor of World AIDS Day on Dec. 6 from 1 a.m. to 2 p.m. The free event will feature free, confidential HIV testing, private talks with medical professionals and health workshops.

The event will be held at Suitland Community Center in Forestville and will include breakfast and snacks.

Damien Ministries is commemorating World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 through the grand opening of the We the People Community & Wellness Collaborative. The event, held at 11:30 a.m. at 4061 Minnesota Avenue, N.E., is free to attend.

Damien Ministries is a faith-based non-profit committed to supporting those with HIV/AIDS.

Begin Anew, a Baltimore non-profit that provides education, outreach and resources to improve public health, wellness and economic stability, is hosting its 4th Annual World AIDS Day Community Celebration on Dec. 1 alongside community partners.

Hosted at the University of Maryland BioPark from noon to 3 p.m., the program will feature keynote speaker Jason E. Farley of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The celebration will also dedicate awards to local heroes focused on fighting HIV/AIDS and promoting health equity.

The free event includes lunch, live entertainment and networking opportunities with health advocates and partners.