To the editor:
The Cornell Coalition for Inclusive Democracy condemns in the strongest terms the leaked Department of Health and Human Services memo that seeks to redefine sex in federal law as “a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth.” This definition would deny transgender people protection under federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. The proposal would limit equal access to healthcare, housing, education and fair treatment under the law. It would functionally deny many trans people documentation of their identity, citizenship and immigration status, and the ability to travel freely. For others, it would force them to choose between the life-threatening dangers of the closet and living in a state of constant exposure and vulnerability. The proposal sends a chilling message that the government refuses to recognize the existence and identity of transgender people. It also deepens ongoing attacks on the civil rights of all citizens, legal immigrants and undocumented people.
As our group came together initially in support of undocumented students on campus and their families, we again call for national resistance to violent and bigoted efforts by the Trump administration to discriminate and further marginalize our students, faculty and staff of diverse gender identities. The Department of Health and Human Services proposal represents a challenge to the central principle of the university, as a place that respects the dignity, rights and equality for all faculty, students, and staff, and the communities where we live and work. It is a threat to our principles as a center of research, education and training, that is open to individuals of all genders, ethnicities, races and abilities.
We oppose the DHHS memo on the grounds that it promotes a broader context of transphobia and a climate of fear. As university staff and faculty, and as individuals who stand in solidarity with our community members of diverse genders, we oppose the threats expressed in the leaked memo.
It is the university’s responsibility to exert whatever political pressure it can to oppose these assaults.
We stand in solidarity with all LGBTQ people, and especially transgender and gender non- conforming individuals who may be experiencing harassment, discrimination and other forms of stress at this time.
Prof. Shannon Gleeson, ILR
Prof. Joseph Margulies, government
Prof. Russell Rickford, history
Prof. Ernesto Quiñonez, English
Prof. Beth Lyon, law
Prof. TJ Hinrichs, history
Prof. María Cristina García, history and Latino studies
Eric Cheyfitz, Ernest I. White Professor of American Studies and Humane Letters
Prof. Cathy Caruth, comparative literature
Prof. Ella Diaz, English and Latina/o studies
Prof. Tracy McNulty, French and comparative literature
Prof. Richard F. Bensel , government
Prof. Robert C. Hockett, law
Helena María Viramontes, Goldwin Smith Professor of English
Prof. Richard William, philosophy
Prof. Miller Neil Saccamano, English
Prof. Sandra Babcock, law
Prof. John Weiss, history
Matthew Evangelista, President White Professor of History and Political Science,
Prof. Simone Pinet, Spanish and medieval studies
Prof. D. Alexander Bateman, government
Prof. Jamila Michener, government
Prof. Rachel Weil, history
Prof. Noliwe M. Rooks, Africana studies
Kenneth M. Roberts, Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government
Prof. Raymond B. Craib, history
Prof. Neema Kudva, city and regional planning
Ross Brann, Milton R. Konvitz Professor of Judeo-Islamic Studies
Prof. Mary Pat P. Brady, Latino/a studies
Prof. Wendy W. Wolford,
development sociology
Prof. Joanie Mackowski, English and Creative Writing
Prof. Sabrina M Karim, government
Prof. Jonathan Kirshner, government
Prof. Risa L. Lieberwitz, ILR
Prof. Michael Ashkin, art
Prof. Angela B. Cornell, law
Prof. Elizabeth Brundige, law
Prof. Edward Eugene Baptist, history
Prof. Vilma Santiago-Irizarry, anthropology and Latino/a studies
Lara Skinner, Ph.D, Executive Director, ILR Worker Institute
Dania Rajendra, ILR Worker Institute
Sally M. Alvarez, ILR Worker Institute
Maria C. Figueroa, ILR Worker Institute
Jeffrey M. Grabelsky, ILR Worker Institute
Prof. Anna Haskins, sociology
Prof. Oneka LaBennett, Africana studies
Prof. Shawn McDaniel, Romance studies
Prof. Rachel Bezner Kerr, development sociology
Prof. Aziz Rana, law
Prof. Rebecca Slayton, science and technology studies
Prof. Julia Cang, Romance studies and feminist, gender and sexuality studies
Prof. Barry Maxwell, comparative literature, retired
Prof. Sabine Haenni, performing and media arts
Prof. Sheri Lynn Johnson, law
Prof. Verónica Martínez-Matsuda, ILR
Durba Ghosh, director of feminist, gender and sexuality Studies
Prof. Scott J Peters,
development sociology,
Kathleen A Bergin, IRB Committee
Adam T. Smith, Goldwin Smith Professor of Anthropology
Prof. Derek Chang, history and Asian American studies
Prof. Mostafa Minawi, history
Prof. Jill Frank, government
Prof. Maria Lorena Cook, ILR
Prof. Jennifer Minner, city and regional planning
Prof. Eric Tagliacozzo, history
Prof. Deborah Starr,
Near Eastern studies
Prof. Rayna Kalas, English
Prof. Alexander Livingston, government
Prof. Masha Raskolnikov, English and feminist, gender and sexuality studies
Adrienne Clay, program manager, American studies
Joyce Muchan, Assistant Director Public Service Center
Robert Scott, Executive Director, Cornell Prison Education Program
Prof. Paul Nadasdy, anthropology and American Indian and Indigenous Studies
Prof. Marina Welker, anthropology
Mary Newhart, Assistant Director, Center for the Study of Inequality
Briana Beltran, Clinical Teaching Fellow, law
Prof. Estelle McKee, law
Prof. Cynthia G Bowman, law
Carrie Freshour, PhD ’18, development sociology
Prof. Julilly Kohler-Hausmann, history
Prof. Shelley Wong, English
Prof. Jenny C. Mann, English
Brendan O’Brien, Dean of Students Office
Prof. Stacey Langwick, anthropology