Enforce Existing State Nondiscrimination Laws Against Institutions Complying With Federal Anti-Trans Policies

I am writing to urge you to actively enforce our state's existing nondiscrimination laws against private institutions that are preemptively complying with the Trump administration's anti-transgender executive orders. While lawsuits against the federal government are important, the more urgent crisis is happening right here in our state. Despite no federal law requiring them to discriminate, private institutions are choosing to comply with Trump's threats rather than uphold state protections for transgender people. The University of Pennsylvania imposed a sports ban and retroactively vacated swimmer Lia Thomas's wins, even though Pennsylvania law explicitly protects gender identity. Brown University has agreed to ban transgender students from using bathrooms aligned with their gender, potentially becoming the first major university in a blue state to enact such a ban despite Rhode Island law protecting gender identity as a protected class. Hospitals are cutting gender-affirming care in response to threats about Medicaid funding and misapplied federal statutes, even when state law prohibits such discrimination. These institutions are treating compliance with federal pressure as the path of least resistance because they face no consequences for violating state law. New York Attorney General Letitia James demonstrated what enforcement looks like when her office reached a settlement with CarelonRx, a mail-order pharmacy refusing to fill gender-affirming prescriptions. The settlement required them to stop discriminating, train staff, pay $200,000 in fines, and provide restitution to affected individuals. This is the model we need replicated across our state. Our state laws already protect transgender people from discrimination. What we need now is enforcement. I urge you to investigate institutions within our state that are discriminating against transgender individuals in violation of state law, issue clear guidance that such discrimination will not be tolerated regardless of federal pressure, and pursue settlements and penalties against violators. Preemptive compliance with unconstitutional federal threats is still discrimination under state law, and it must be treated as such.