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Expert available to speak on possible end to HHS nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people

Proposed rule changes would harm some of the most marginalized in society, professor says

The largest university-wide LGBTQ health research center in the country, Northwestern University’s Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH), has released a statement on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issuing notices that the agency will not enforce nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people.

A co-author of this statement is available to speak with the media on the possible effects of this rule change on the LGBTQ community.  

Steven Thrasher is an ISGMH faculty member and the Daniel H. Renberg Chair of social justice in reporting, with an emphasis on issues relevant to the LGBTQ community. His areas of expertise include U.S. Civil Rights, international histories of LGBTQ and gender identities, social movements, public health reporting and HIV/AIDS history. He can be reached at steven.thrasher@northwestern.edu

Quote from Professor Thrasher

“If enacted, the Trump administration's proposed rules changes will harm some of the most marginalized people in society, adding even more stigma to queer and trans persons. I'm especially worried about how these changes will affect young people. In addition to poor children who need homes, research is showing that more youth do not identify as heterosexual, as cisgender, or within a gender binary at all. And those young people will be discriminated against disproportionately by these proposed changes.”