The Department of Health and Human Services is attempting to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, the federal law which prohibits gender-based discrimination.
Further, the Department is reportedly in favor of a uniform definition of sex as a fixed matter, determined as either male or female by genitalia at birth.
The memo relating to such was obtained by the New York Times, and states; “The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.”
“Sex means a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth,” the department proposed in the memo, which was drafted and has been circulating since last spring.
“The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence,” the memo continues.
The establishment of genitalia-based definition would mark a significant rollback of Obama-era policies which determined sex based on a persons choice, rather than their sex assigned at birth.
The Trump administration last year put forth legislation which would block transgender people from joining the military “in any capacity.” However, the move was blocked by the courts.