As Trump Administration Continues Cruel Attacks on Transgender Community, Markey and Jayapal Reintroduce Transgender Bill of Rights

Resolution Text (PDF)

Washington (February 11, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), with Representatives Mark Takano (CA-49), and Sara Jacobs (CA-51) today reintroduced the Transgender Bill of Rights, a landmark resolution that reaffirms the federal government's duty to protect and codify the rights of transgender and nonbinary people and ensure that trans people have access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security. The resolution creates a comprehensive framework to protect trans and nonbinary Americans from discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression. Senator Markey and Representative Jayapal previously introduced the Transgender Bill of Rights in March 2023.

"Trans rights are human rights. We must ensure that every trans and gender diverse person in America can live freely, safely, and authentically. That's what the Transgender Bill of Rights is all about," said Senator Markey. "I am proud to partner with Representatives Jayapal, Takano, and Jacobs, and with advocates from across the country to reject hate and reaffirm that trans people have a right to gender-affirming health care, to accurate identity documents, and to fully participate in school, in work, and in public life-just like anyone else. This is about who we are as a country: whether freedom belongs to all of us or only to some of us. We must choose freedom and justice for all."

"The trans community continues to be targeted and scapegoated by hateful legislation and politicians. This cruelty must stop," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Co-Chair of the Transgender Equality Task Force. "Today, I'm reintroducing the Trans Bill of Rights to unequivocally say that trans lives matter and that every person deserves to live free from prejudice and discrimination. Our bill honors the resilience of the trans community, and lays out a clear vision for what Congress must do to ensure every trans and gender non-conforming person is treated with dignity and respect."

"For years, right-wing politicians at every level of government have been relentless attacking the transgender community's rights and dignity. Even in the face of these cruel attacks, our transgender siblings are still standing tall," said Rep. Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. "The Transgender Bill of Rights is both a clear reminder to every trans person in the United States that we stand with them and a commitment to the work still left to do in order to build a safer, more loving, and more equal nation. As Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, I'm proud to stand beside our Transgender Equality Task Force Co-Chairs, Congresswomen Jayapal and Jacobs, as well as Senator Markey, in introducing this resolution."

"Whether it's pushing trans sports bans or blocking access to health care, the Trump administration continues to attack the trans community and threaten their basic human rights," said Rep. Sara Jacobs, Co-Chair of the Transgender Equality Task Force. "We need protections for the transgender and non-binary communities at the federal level, because no one should live in fear of being who they are. I'm so proud to co-lead the Transgender Bill of Rights as proof of our commitment to protect the health, safety, and well-being of trans people in this country. To the trans community: we see you, and we will not stop until you can live freely and authentically."

On Wednesday, the lawmakers were joined by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), and advocates from Massachusetts and across the country for a press conference announcing the resolution's reintroduction.

Trans and nonbinary people across the United States have faced relentless and escalating attacks on their health, safety, and wellbeing. The Trump administration has continuously attacked gender-affirming care, particularly care for minors; sought to remove discrimination protections for people with gender dysphoria; and instructed the State Department to suspend its policy allowing trans people to change their gender identification on their passports, among other attacks.

In 2025, 1,022 anti-trans bills across 49 states and the federal government were introduced. As of January of this year, there are 648 active anti-trans bills that seek to restrict health care, ban LGBTQ+ inclusive curricula in schools, exclude trans youth from athletics, and otherwise endanger and harm trans people. These anti-trans bills harm the mental health and physical safety of LGBTQ+ youth, particularly trans youth who have been the primary target of these attacks. In the United States, trans people are four times more likely to face violent attacks than their cisgender peers and more than 40 percent of trans people have attempted suicide.

The Transgender Bill of Rights is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt).

In the House of Representatives, the resolution is led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), co-led by Reps. Sara Jacobs (CA-51) and Mark Takano (CA-39), and cosponsored by Reps. Gabe Amo (RI-01), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Becca Balint (VT-AL), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Wesley Bell (MO-01), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), André Carson (IN07), Greg Casar (TX-35), Sean Casten (IL-06), Judy Chu (CA-28), Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-31), Yvette Clarke (NY09), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), John Garamendi (CA-08), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Jesús G. "Chuy" García (IL-04), Daniel Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Al Green (TX-09), Adelita S. Grijalva (AZ-07), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), William Keating (MA-09), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), John B. Larson (CT-01), Summer Lee (PA-12), Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Doris Matsui (CA-07), Sarah McBride (DE-AL), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), James P. McGovern (MA-02), LaMonica McIver (NJ10), Rob Menendez (NJ-08), Grace Meng (NY-06), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Jerry Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Scott Peters (CA-50), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Emily Randall (WA-06), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Luz Rivas (CA-29), Deborah K. Ross (NC-02), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Linda T. Sanchez (CA-38), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Adam Smith (WA-09), Melanie Ann Stansbury (NM-01), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), James Walkinshaw (VA-11), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), and Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24).

The resolution is endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); Reproductive Freedom for All; Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE); the California LGBT Health and Human Services Network; the Los Angeles LGBT Center; Oasis Legal Services in California; Transathlete; the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund; AFL-CIO Pride At Work; the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association; the Immigration Equality Action Fund; Physicians for Reproductive Health; Fenway Health; Amnesty International USA; the National Council of Jewish Women; glisten; PFLAG National; the Christopher Street Project; The LGBTQIA+ Cancer Network; SAGE; Rocky Mountain Equality; The Trevor Project; interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth; the Japanese American Citizens League; the National Education Association; Indivisible; the National Women's Law Center Action Fund; CenterLink; SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, the Center for Constitutional Rights; Advocates for Youth; Just Detention International; American Atheists; the Movement Advancement Project; the Union for Reform Judaism; the Transgender Law Center; Know Your IX; the National Black Justice Collective; Equal Rights Advocates; Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund; GLAAD; Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC); the American Association of University Women (AAUW); the Human Rights Campaign; National Partnership for Women & Families; and Gender Justice .

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