The Capitol buildings and grounds are quintessential places for free speech and protest, accessible by people from all walks of life who gather there to express their views, demonstrate, picket, and hold vigils. But if those places are permanently fenced off, the public and our constitutional right to assemble and protest will be in jeopardy. 

That is why the ACLU and the ACLU of the District of Columbia are urging leaders of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate not to permanently fence off the Capitol, which would turn its architecture into a national symbol of fear and hostility towards the public’s presence.

The seat of a government of, by, and for the people must not be fenced off from the people.

As a former U.S. Senate staffer who once roamed the same Capitol hallways breached by the insurrectionists and white supremacists on January 6, I certainly understand the impulse driving the calls for permanent fencing. But for us as Americans, what we will sacrifice and lose under this proposal will come at too great of a cost. A permanent fence around the Capitol would only compound the harms inflicted by the insurrectionists’ attempt to subvert our democracy. 

The Capitol complex, where all our elected lawmakers come together to legislate in the open view of the public, has been recognized around the world as a celebrated symbol of democracy. If Congress were to permanently retreat into a militarized zone ringed by fencing topped with razor wire, it would send the kind of message that heads of autocratic regimes send by cloistering themselves away from their populaces in armored fortresses. 

As Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the Congressmember representing the District of Columbia, put it, the fencing that is currently installed around the Capitol complex “makes the United States look like a totalitarian regime trying to keep its own people out.” 

https://twitter.com/EleanorNorton/status/1366487883213905922

Permanently fencing off the Capitol would also inflict other concrete harms to our democracy. The public will suffer diminished access to public grounds with unique importance in the exercise of their constitutional rights to assemble and to petition the government. 

That exclusion will be especially acute if people want to participate in spontaneous protest in response to rapidly unfolding events—such as the protests for racial justice that arose last summer. The independent press’s ability to report on the affairs of Congress will deteriorate as well, given that journalists must be able to travel to and from the Capitol without excessive delays or burdens to do their jobs.

For residents of the District of Columbia like me, the permanent fencing proposal will also inflict a unique kind of damage by further militarizing and restricting access to one of the city’s most cherished public grounds. Permanent fencing will only worsen the atmosphere of living in an oppressive police state where even local children are barred from sledding on the slopes surrounding Capitol Hill. Because armed officers are constantly patrolling the fenced area, the proposal also raises strong concerns about the resulting increase in interactions between law enforcement and people who live and work in D.C., particularly people of color. The current fencing even obstructed the city government from enacting new laws, as physical copies of its newly enacted legislation must be delivered by hand to Congress.

Fiercely defending our most cherished liberties is the right response to our democracy coming under threat. Indeed, this is precisely the moment when we must hold true to the values of openness, public service, and public participation that our Capitol embodies. All members of Congress should step forward to publicly affirm these principles and reject permanently fencing off the Capitol from the people. 

Transgender athletes want to participate in school sports for the same reason as anybody else: to find a sense of belonging and social engagement, to be a part of a team, and to challenge themselves.

But states and schools across the country are trying to exclude trans people from enjoying the benefits of sports on equal terms with their cisgender peers. Not only do these proposed laws discriminate against trans youth in ways that compromise their health, social and emotional development, and safety, they also raise a host of privacy concerns.

The organizations leading these attacks on trans athletes’ rights are the same organizations that pushed false myths about trans people in restrooms. Just like it was never about restrooms, today’s fight is not about sports. It’s about erasing and excluding trans people from participation in all aspects of public life. It’s about creating “solutions” to “problems” that don’t exist and, in the process, harming some of the most vulnerable young people in the country. Meanwhile, leading advocates for women’s sports support inclusion of women and girls who are transgender and warn that these efforts will ultimately harm all athletes in women’s sports.

"I Just Want to Run"

Lindsay Hecox

Lindsay is a college student at Boise State University. She wants to run on the track team because she loves to run, and loves the experience of building friendships and solidarity with her teammates. As a girl, Lindsay’s only option is to run on the girls’ team, but a new law in Idaho would ban her from doing so because she is transgender. Lindsay sued in 2020 and is represented by the ACLU and the ACLU of Idaho, Legal Voice, and Cooley LLP. For updates on Lindsay’s case, visit the Hecox v. Little case page.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeL5R5N_3L8

Andraya Yearwood

Andraya is a recent high school graduate who ran on her school’s girls’ track team. A lawsuit was filed against her school and the state of Connecticut by cisgender students because. The ACLU and ACLU of Connecticut joined the lawsuit in on behalf of Andraya and Terry Miller, another student. Both Terry and Andraya have graduated from high school and no longer compete in track, but anti-trans groups are suing to take away any record of their past achievements. For updates on Andraya’s case, visit the Soule et al v. CT Association of Schools et al case page.

Trans athletes — particularly Black trans women — face systemic barriers to participation in athletics and all aspects of public life.  This exclusion contributes to the high rates of homelessness, suicidality, and violence that Black trans women and girls face.

Debunking Myths About Trans Athletes

The attacks on trans student-athletes are rooted in the same kind of gender discrimination and stereotyping that has held back cisgender women athletes for centuries. Transgender girls are often told that they are not girls (and conversely transgender boys are told they are not really boys) based on inaccurate stereotypes about biology, athleticism, and gender. In reality, trans women and girls have been competing in women’s sports at all levels around the world. Despite the hundreds if not thousands of trans women competing, only a handful have had any success at the high school and collegiate level. And women’s sports have continued to grow and thrive in states with policies that allow trans student athletes to compete.

Everything we know from major medical and mental health associations is that affirming trans youth in their gender is a critical part of improving physical and mental health outcomes for this population.

https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbt-rights/four-myths-about-trans-athletes-debunked/

State Bills

In 2020, 18 states introduced legislation that would ban transgender student athletes from participating in school sports. As of February 2021, 24 states have introduced similar legislation.

Idaho was the first and only state to pass such a ban. In August 2020, a federal judge blocked Idaho’s law targeting transgender student athletes, recognizing that “it is not just the constitutional rights of transgender girls and women athletes at issue but … the constitutional rights of every girl and woman athlete in Idaho.” The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to hear arguments in May in the appeal of the lower court’s decision and could rule any time after that. Briefs in opposition to this law and in support of transgender student athletes have been filed by women’s rights groups, medical experts, athletes, and coaches.

https://www.aclu.org/legislation-affecting-lgbt-rights-across-country

Federal Policies

On Jan. 20, the Biden administration issued an executive order aimed at addressing discrimination against LGBTQ people. Recent polls indicate this order is the most popular policy enacted by the administration in its first week.

Biden’s order restored protections — it did not introduce new ones. Chase Strangio, the ACLU’s deputy director for trans justice, explains:

Contrary to a trending hashtag on social media and the polemics of a few loud voices, President Biden most certainly did not “erase women” — whatever that means. By stating the administration’s intention to follow Supreme Court precedent and federal law, at core all the newly-elected president did was lay out what the law is and agree, unlike his predecessor, to follow it. That includes, as the order makes clear, ensuring that “[c]hildren should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”

Before Biden’s executive action, the Obama administration issued guidance regarding protections for transgender students under Title IX, and before that, multiple courts had already ruled that existing federal law protects transgender students from discrimination in schools. Since then, the Supreme Court has twice rejected cases challenging school policies that support transgender students (Doe v. Boyertown Area School District and Parents for Privacy v. Dallas School District No. 2). Similarly, passing the Equality Act would not introduce new rights for transgender students, including women and girls who are transgender and wish to participate in school sports.

Trans People Belong in Sports

Here’s what organizations that have fought for women athletes have to say:

Women’s Sports Foundation

The false rhetoric taking hold is a distraction to the real threats to girls and women in sports, such as lack of Title IX understanding and compliance; inequity in compensation, resources, sponsorship, and media attention; harassment and abuse of female athletes and women working in sports, the list goes on.

National Women’s Law Center

Additionally, history and modern experiences show how [Idaho’s anti-trans law] will disproportionately harm Black and Brown women and girls. Black and Brown women and girls are routinely targeted, shamed, and dehumanized for not conforming to society’s expectations of femininity … By allowing coaches, administrators, and other athletes to become the arbiters of who “looks like” a girl or a woman, [this law] will rely on and perpetuate racist and sexist stereotypes.

National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education

NCWGE supports the right of transgender and nonbinary students to learn in a safe, nondiscriminatory environment; to use names, pronouns, and identification documents consistent with their gender identity; to have full and equal access to sex-separated activities and facilities consistent with their gender identity, including athletics teams, bathrooms, and locker rooms; and to have their privacy protected in all education records, in accordance with Title IX, the reasoning in the Supreme Court’s Bostock decision, and President Biden’s Jan. 20, 2021 executive order.

Statement of 23 Women’s Rights and Gender Justice Organizations

Equal participation in athletics for transgender people does not mean an end to women’s sports. The idea that allowing girls who are transgender to compete in girls’ sports leads to male domination of female sports is based on a flawed understanding of what it means to be transgender and a misrepresentation of nondiscrimination laws.

Billie Jean King

There is no place in any sport for discrimination of any kind. I’m proud to support all transgender athletes who simply want the access and opportunity to compete in the sport they love. The global athletic community grows stronger when we welcome and champion all athletes — including LGBTQ

Megan Rapinoe

https://twitter.com/mPinoe/status/1286010384059514880?s=20