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L.G.B.T. activists mobilized a fast and fierce campaign that included a protest outside the White House on Monday to say transgender people cannot be expunged from society, in response to an unreleased Trump administration memo that proposes a strict definition of gender based on a person’s genitalia at birth. The existence of the draft memo, the administration’s latest effort to roll back the recognition and protection of transgender people under federal civil rights law, was reported by The New York Times on Sunday morning. (Mervosh and Hauser, 10/22)

"I feel very threatened, but I am absolutely resolute," Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Rights, said at a news conference convened by more than a dozen activist leaders. "We will stand up and be resilient, and we will be here long after this administration is in the trash heap." The activist leaders, speaking amid posters reading "#Won'tBeErased", later addressed a protest rally outside the White House. (Crary and Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/22)

“I am livid, but clear-headed,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, who spoke during a press conference at the headquarters for the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C., before the march. “We will be here long after this administration is in the trash heap.” (Emma, 10/22)

L.A.’s LGBTQ leaders see the potential policy change as an effort to systematically undermine a national recognition of transgender people ushered in by the Obama White House. And while they aren’t surprised by the Trump administration’s effort to establish a strict legal definition of sex, they say they are still alarmed. Advocates fear the sweeping change would breed an increase in hate and violence toward transgender people, lead to new barriers in obtaining adequate healthcare and education, and induce a greater sense of hopelessness and isolation in a community that already exists on the farthest margins of society. (Newberry, 10/22)

Trump confirmed Monday that a policy change toward transgender people was under consideration but said that there is more than one way to approach the issue. He was not specific about the potential alternatives. “We’re looking at it. We have a lot of different concepts right now. They have a lot of different things happening with respect to transgender right now,” Trump said. “And we’re looking at it very seriously.” Asked about his promise to protect LGBT people, he replied: “You know what I’m doing? I’m protecting everybody.” (Meckler, Schmidt and Sun, 10/22)