Lady Gaga has accused President Donald Trump of being “being driven by ignorance” in an attack on his plans to change how gender is defined in US law.
Trump’s administration has drawn up plans that would see gender defined as male or female based on genitalia at birth, having huge consequences for trans and non-binary people.
The proposed changes would mean US citizens would not be able to change their gender in legal terms later in life, removing civil rights protections for transgender people previously put in place by Barack Obama.
After Trump defended the proposals saying he wanted to “protect our country”, Gaga launched a fierce attack on Twitter.
The singer, who has always been a passionate defender of LGBTQ rights, tweeted: “The government may be living in an alternate universe, but we as a society & culture know who we are and know our truth and must stick together and raise our voices so we can educate them about gender identities.
“While today you might feel unheard or unseen, know that this is not the reality of humanity. This is another display of leadership being driven by ignorance. #TransRightsAreHumanRights #WontBeErased.”
The New York Times first reported details of Trump’s proposals in a leaked memo from the US Department for Health and Human Service.
It reportedly 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.”
According to a 2016 estimate by the Williams Institute, there are about 1.4 million adults in the US who identify as transgender.
Aside from the cultural and moral issues raised by the leaked memo, doctors argued the laws would be impossible to apply to intersex babies who are born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that do not fit conventional categories.