LGBTQ+ organisations urge US Senate to reject Trump’s anti-trans SAVE America Act
LGBTQ+ organisations have called for the Senate to reject the SAVE America Act. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty)
A collective of LGBTQ+ and civil rights organisations has warned that the US Senate must reject President Donald Trump’s SAVE America Act to prevent “targeting of transgender people.”
SAVE America stands for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. In an open letter, the organisations explain that the bill (S. 1383), if passed, would advance a federal targeting of transgender people.
The letter is signed by Advocates for Trans Equality, the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, and The Trevor Project.
The groups all denounce the SAVE Act, calling it “a blatant attempt to steal the fundamental right to vote.”
The legislative amendment seeks to tighten identification rules, the groups noting this disproportionately impacts trans people.
“Under the guise of addressing a non-existent voter fraud problem, this bill would create onerous restrictions,” the coalition wrote.
“Simply put: this would establish a 21st century poll tax, and it cannot be allowed to move forward.”
The letter points to Kansas as an example of the worrying precedent such bills can set. In the state, ID policies have led to 1,700 trans Kansans’ driving licenses being revoked.
‘It continues this administration’s obsession with targeting trans people’
The letter continues: “A law like the SAVE Act would only further cause bureaucratic confusion and disenfranchise wide swaths of people.”
“The legitimacy of our democracy rests on ensuring that everyone who is entitled to vote has reasonable access to the ballot box, but this legislation would do precisely the opposite.”
The bill would also ban trans women and girls from participating in school sports aligned with their gender identity.
Furthermore, another section of the SAVE Act proposes to restrict access to gender-affirming care for trans youth. The bill refers to such care as “genital and bodily mutilation” and “chemical castration of a minor.”
“This further escalates the administration’s ongoing efforts to try to drive transgender people out of all facets of society,” the coalition notes.
“It also continues this administration’s obsession with targeting transgender people at every opportunity.
“A government that is working for the good of its own people has no business contemplating steps such as these. This legislation would merely empower those who desire to predetermine the outcomes of our elections, at the expense of everyone else. As such, we urge you to reject this bill.”
Trump and his Republican allies are rallying to put pressure on the Senate and House to approve the bill.
