Name Date: Period:

Emily McCargar September 30th, 2020 Period 3

Party: State: District (if House): Blank

Green Colorado

Committee Referral: Appropriations Needed:

Blank ☐Yes or ✓☐No ​(check one)

Transgender Healthcare, Schooling, and Workplace Protection Act

115​th​ Congress

2nd Session

HB #1557

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

9/30/20

A BILL

Be it enacted by the Senate OR House of Representatives of the United States of America

in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the Transgender Healthcare, Schooling, and Workplace Protection
Act.

SECTION 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/NEED

(1) This act will prohibit discrimination in healthcare, learning, and workplace environments
based on gender identity, punishable by federal law.

(2) Approximately half of the trans population in America postpone medical care in fear of
being discriminated against, and approximately 39% of transgender Americans have an
income of $30,000 or less, making it harder for them to receive medical care anyway.

(3) In 2016, the Obama Administration made a public announcement that Section 1557 of
the Affordable Cares Act, which prohibits discrimination in healthcare and workplaces
based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability on a federal level applies to
any gender identity. However, in June of 2020, the Trump Administration finalized a
rewriting of Section 1557 eliminating the Obama Era rule, stating the section only applies
to people with gender identities that conform to their birth-assigned sex.

(4) 78% of trans people report being harassed in K-12 schooling, 53% report being harassed
in public places (government agencies, hotels, restaurants, etc.), and 50% report being
harassed at work.

(5) Only about 40% of trans individuals are out to their healthcare providers in fear of being
discriminated against. Of that 40%, 28% report being harassed in a healthcare setting,
and 19% report being denied medical service due to their gender identity.

(6) There are approximately 1.7 million trans citizens in the United States, including both
adults and minors. While no person should fear being out about a part of them to anyone
in fear of harassment and discrimination, now more than ever, people should not be
avoiding healthcare, yet so many of them do in fear of discrimination. This creates an
 effect that not only harms the trans community but the rest of the country as well, as
COVID-19 does not discriminate.

SECTION 3. PROVISIONS - BENEFITS AND ELIGIBILITY

(1) This bill is intended to benefit transgender and other non-cisgender individuals by
protecting them from harassment and discrimination in healthcare, school, and
workplace settings.

(2) Any person who is harassed or discriminated against on the basis of gender
identity can file a claim at their local Civil Service office and have it dealt with
locally. If it’s on a government level, it will be dealt with applying to the entire
state, and new regulations may be enacted. If it is possible, the name of the
violator should be provided, as well as a detailed account of the interaction, and
fines may be given to the said violator.

(3) This change does not apply to blatant sexism, however, people are still protected
from this by section 1557 of the Affordable Cares Act. This change only covers
the modern definition of sex and expands it to gender identity.

(4) Denial of services (medical, government, food, housing, etc.) will result in fining
the company or service provider per account, and reports/warnings will be sent to
the head of the department in each facility.

(5) This change protects discrimination based on sexual orientation as well.

SECTION 4. PROVISIONS - TERMS AND BENEFITS OF SERVICE

(1) Fining for discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. This is
done through filing detailed reports of encounters, including the site of interaction,
description of parties involved, any possible names or contact information of the
parties involved that are known.

(2) Protection in court cases if needed. If someone tries to sue for a violation of their
rights when filing a report of discrimination, the defendant and their lawyer can
site this specific portion of section 1557 to defend their rights as a citizen of the
United States.

(3) This bill repeals the change made by the Trump Administration in 2019-2020,
reverting it back to the way it was in 2016.

(4) This bill makes gender and orientation-based discrimination finable, much like
speeding. It is not a felony, but a misdemeanor that could result in fines up to
$10,000 (for large corporations with multiple reports filed against them), and
could be taken to court if seen fit by either the victim or the one(s) fined. The
money fined will go to the victim to help provide any service they were denied,
and if no service is required, will go towards making the state/district safer.

SECTION 5. ADMINISTRATION ​(Government agencies and departments to execute the law once it’s
passed)

Civil rights departments would be in charge of holding filed claims and executing
needed actions in response to filed claims. The Department of Education would be
required to instruct and direct schools to have a protection policy for trans and
other LGBTQ+ students and faculty members. The Department of Health and
Human Services would be in charge of enforcing healthcare and government
agency anti-discrimination rules.
SECTION 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS ​(Include amount of funding requested AND
rationale)

The Transgender Healthcare, Schooling, and Workplace Protection Act does not
require any appropriations to be enacted. If a lawyer is needed for a case, the
district or state will provide assistance in finding one for the discriminatory victim.

SOURCES ​(Provide the list of all sources used in researching the bill including the name of the source
and website link if online)

The Commonwealth Fund:

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2018/federal-protections-health-care-risk-transgender-american

NPR.org:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/06/12/868073068/transgender-health-protections-reversed-b
y-trump-administration

Trans Equality: ​ ​https://transequality.org/HCRL-FAQ

White House:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/#:~:text=The%20Federal%20Governme
nt%20is%20composed,and%20the%20Federal%20courts%2C%20respectively​.

The Trevor Project: ​https://www.thetrevorproject.org/trvr_support_center/trans-gender-identity/