US threatens permanent visa bans on trans athletes based on sex markers | Hacker News Reader

US threatens permanent visa bans on trans athletes based on sex markers

theguardian.com

Well, that's one way to ensure international sporting events won't be hosted in the United States.

> The 24 February state department cable obtained by the Guardian instructs visa officers to apply Immigration and Nationality Act section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) – the “permanent fraud bar” – against trans applicants. Unlike regular visa denials, this section triggers lifetime exclusion from the United States with limited waiver possibilities.

It's becoming clear that the current Republican goal regarding transgender people is to establish that being openly transgender is a form of fraud (that is: establishing that trans people stating their gender is an act of deliberate deception), so that they have some basis to prosecute them arbitrarily. Bringing up athletes is just misdirection.

> It's becoming clear that the current Republican goal regarding transgender people is to establish that being openly transgender is a form of fraud

They came right out in the first week[1] and said exactly this in the executive order banning trans people from the military:

> Consistent with the military mission and longstanding DoD policy, expressing a false “gender identity” divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service. Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.

They're saying that existing as a trans person is dishonorable/deceptive/'undisciplined'.

In the more civilized times, posting something like this in reputable forums would've gotten you banned for hate speech.

[1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/prio...

There are trans people who are born XY but born with androgen insensitivity. They can present as 100% female, be born with all female parts except ovaries, but are biologically XY. What are they doing that's "deceptive"?

I believe that people saying it's deceptive to be trans are coming from a place where they can't help themselves sexualizing trans people. They feel afraid that they might sexualize someone and then be 'tricked' into having sexual feelings about a person of the same sex. This triggers them, makes them ashamed, and so they lash out.

If you're practicing The American Way and minding your own damn business and also not being a creepy person, none of this affects you.

Anyone who thinks this will stop with trans people is fooling themselves. Bullies are never satisfied with a little cruelty. They will go after other "others" once they've crushed this "other".

First, they came for the trans people...

So not only will we lose out on hosting international sporting events, but we can kiss goodbye international conferences as well? Plus, hey, let's kick tourism in the nuts while we're at it?

This seems anti-business. Have the GOP thought this through? Oh, wait...

The GoP is almost comically obsessed with policing people's genitals.

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