We are gravely disappointed in the confirmation by the United States Senate of Kyle Duncan, a proven danger to the civil liberties of transgender people. The Senate has just advanced Duncan - who has made a career of standing against equal rights - to a lifetime appointment on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
With important legal battles over the future of equality in the military, health care, education, housing, and employment, there is no understating the risks posed by Kyle Duncan.
Mara Keisling, the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, offers the following response:
“Though we join transgender people and their families in expressing our disappointment and anger with the confirmation of Kyle Duncan, we surely cannot express our surprise. Much like Duncan himself, the Trump administration has spread dangerous mistruths in their defense of bigoted policies attempting to strip away the rights of the nearly two million people in this country who are transgender.
The destruction of transgender rights remains a top priority for this administration, and Duncan is only their latest disgraceful attempt to do so. We are undeterred in our fight for equality and hold fast to our belief that everyone should be equal before the law."
