TAKING ON TRUMP TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY:
MEET THE TWO PLAINTIFFS DEFENDING HEALTH CARE FROM TRUMP-PENCE’S ATTACKS By Matilda Young she/her pronouns
Tanya Asapansa-Johnson Walker and Cecilia Gentili have dedicated their lives to fighting for equality and for the rights and welfare of their communities. Now, these two indomitable advocates are joining the Human Rights Campaign and our co-counsel BakerHostetler in defending one of the LGBTQ community’s most fundamental rights: access to care. Walker and Gentili are the plaintiffs in HRC’s and BakerHostetler’s recent lawsuit challenging a regulation by the United States Department of Health and Human Services which would illegally strip away critical anti-discrimination protections under the Affordable Care Act. The new department rule
would eliminate explicit protections from discrimination based on sex stereotyping and gender identity, thereby sanctioning discrimination against LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people, in health care programs and activities. “LGBTQ people, and particularly transgender people, have been under constant attack by this federal administration and we are not going to allow them to dismiss and disregard us,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “Our plaintiffs, Tanya Walker and Cecilia Gentili — like many others in this country — should not be treated as second-class citizens by a federal administration hell-bent on removing legal protections afforded to transgender people. It is time to end the constant fear and anxiety felt by many in the
LGBTQ community that a person’s gender identity might determine the kind of medical care they receive.” Walker and Gentili, who themselves have faced a lifetime of discrimination in health care, are now plaintiffs poised to defend the health and welfare of trans people and other vulnerable communities. Walker is an Army veteran, twotime lung cancer survivor and community leader who co-founded a statewide advocacy group for transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers. Gentili is an entrepreneur, activist, writer and storyteller with over a decade of experience as a patient and health care policy advocate. Both women have incredible track records in advancing and continued on p. 27 WWW.HRC.ORG
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