I am co-author on a letter to Science discussing the need to protect transgender and gender-nonconforming (GnC) scientists in the face of politicized attacks by the Trump administration.
Executive orders and changes to federal funding policies are both removing civil-rights protections for trans and GnC people in STEM, such as protection against discrimination in hiring and promotion, as well as removing funding for efforts to improve trans and GnC representation in STEM disciplines, identify best practices for promoting EDI, and track progress on diversity. New policies on passports and visas threaten to make it dangerous or impossible for trans scientists, both citizens and non-citizens, to travel internationally.
Many universities and other research organizations have responded to these government actions by eliminating EDI programs, adopting a policy of silence about LGBTQ rights on campus, and rendering trans and GnC people in their organizations invisible.
We argue that institutional silence, political neutrality, and anticipatory obedience with attacks on EDI and on trans and GnC people’s rights is actively harmful. Institutions of research and higher learning must take positive actions to advocate for and to protect the rights and equal opportunities of trans and GnC scientists.