SPRINGFIELD — Protecting gender affirming care, shielding LGBTQ+ military personnel and continuing to advance diversity initiatives are a few initiatives Attorney General Andrea Campbell with other law experts said they are fighting to defend.
“It is hard to understand the depth and breadth of what is happening,” said Jennifer Levi, a law professor for Western New England University.
Campbell, Tanya Neslusan, executive director for MassEquity and Levi, a former senior staff attorney for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, joined together for a panel discussion at Western New England Tuesday to discuss the attempts to erode LGBTQ+ and civil rights in general that have taken place since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20.
More than 100 people including local politicians, lawyers, students, health care workers and those from the LGBTQ+ community attended the Equity for All discussion that comes three months before Springfield’s Pride June events.
Levi numerated different ways the federal government has tried to end rights of the LGBTQ+ community, especially those are transgender, including removing the word transgender from federal websites and cutting LGBTQ+ identifiers from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children website.
One of the most egregious orders, which was later blocked by court ruling, banned transgender people from joining or continuing to serve in the military, she said.
“I will tell you nobody was prepared for the vitriol that was included in that executive order and others that have been issued, that specifically called transgender people selfish, undisciplined and dishonest. It is really alarming,” she said.
Democratic attorney generals from across the country have been joining forces to protect civil rights and constitutional rights as President Trump’s administration has been trying to whittle away with order after order, Campbell said.
“We have been filing lawsuits, I feel like, every day, all day,” Campbell said, adding before the panel discussion she signed onto a suit started in Connecticut to protect Social Security. “That’s really important, it’s just for the funding that we need to continue to do everything we do in Massachusetts. It is also to expand access to gender-affirming care to expand access to health care generally.”
She admitted it is hard work and takes time and research but she is committed to lead the charge to protect rights.
One concern is what Campbell called fear mongering and targeting specific groups which has led to people incorrectly thinking their civil rights no longer exist, she said.
People still have civil rights and one of the biggest safeguards Massachusetts has a shield law that protects providers from out-of-state investigations, prosecutions and discipline for giving care to people who do not live in the state, she said.
Organizations removing references to transgender rights and diversity equity and inclusion from websites and the workplace as a precaution to prevent the government from targeting them is also a concern, Neslusan said.
“Once you start doing preemptive compliance, it becomes the norm,” she said. In general, MassEquity is seeing a lot of LGBTQ+ people especially worried about funding cuts for schools, health care and other services, she said.
“We are really seeing a lot of practical fears here,” Neslusan said, adding transgender people often have lower incomes.