MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We have a closer look at one of President-elect Trump's campaign promises.
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DONALD TRUMP: On Day 1, I will sign an executive order instructing every federal agency to cease the promotion of sex or gender transition at any age. They're not going to do it anymore.
MARTIN: All this week, we've been looking at his Day 1 promises. For this story, we're joined by Jami Taylor. She is a professor at the University of Toledo, and she's written extensively about the transgender rights movement and public attitudes about transgender people.
Professor Taylor, thank you so much for joining us.
JAMI TAYLOR: Thanks for having me on.
MARTIN: I just want to start with the clip we just played, and Trump's promise to ban federal support for gender transition at any age. What's he talking about here? Is he talking about Medicaid and Medicare? Can he ban certain procedures from being paid for by these programs?
TAYLOR: There are several programs that would address health care for transgender people. These are Medicare, Medicaid, VA. And then there are things like the Affordable Care Act, where you have nondiscrimination protections that may include trans people, depending on how the term sex is being interpreted. So the president can issue an executive order to instruct agencies to do this. And one of the things that we know with executive action on trans rights is it's not sticky. Executive action is going to be very impermanent.
MARTIN: Here is the second part of that quote.
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TRUMP: I will declare that any hospital or health care provider that participates in the chemical or physical mutilation of a minor youth no longer meets federal health and safety standards. They will be terminated from receiving federal funds, effective immediately.
MARTIN: Now, I think that what he's talking about here is what other people consider gender-affirming care for minors. Do people see this differently from gender-affirming care for adults?
TAYLOR: Yeah, I do think we need to make a distinction between health care for minors versus gender-affirming health care for adults. And I think the politics on that is going to be different. The state, broadly speaking, has an obligation to protect minors. And so the politics of that is different for adults. I mean, what is the rational basis to deny an adult voluntary procedures to make their life better?
MARTIN: So last year, in a campaign speech, Trump made a specific reference to Title IX. He said this.
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TRUMP: The bill will also make clear that Title IX prohibits men from participating in women's sports.
MARTIN: So Title IX is part of the Civil Rights Act. It bans discrimination in schools and colleges. What is he saying he will do? Is he saying that this bill that he is proposing will bar transgender athletes from participating in college sports? I mean, can he do that?
TAYLOR: This is, again, something that has flip-flopped on how this is going to be interpreted. The Obama administration wanted to interpret Title IX inclusively of trans people, and the Trump administration reversed course. The Biden administration again reversed course, but they weren't as willing to be as inclusive on sport. And so the Trump administration is almost certainly going to take the view that Title IX does not include protections for trans people in sport. But again, executive action is impermanent.
MARTIN: That's Jami Taylor. She's a professor at the University of Toledo. Professor Taylor, thank you so much for talking with us.
TAYLOR: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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