On October 21, President Donald Trump’s administration revealed it is considering a policy to redefine the definition of gender.

The policy, published by the New York Times, would define sex as “a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth”. And, perhaps most shockingly, stated that a person’s birth certificate “shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.”

The policy would set America back by years in terms of civil rights and protections for the 1.4M people in the transgender community.

Naturally then, the community is using their voice to speak out against the proposed policy. Helping them do so is Billboard, which asked select trans and gender non-conforming musicians to take part in a live-streamed panel to discuss the move.

Among those involved were Jaimie Wilson, Mila Jam, Morgin DuPont, and LCD Soundsystem‘s Gavin Rayna Russom.

Gavin Rayna Russom said she felt the New York Times article and headline was “super problematic”.

The headline was: ‘Transgender’ Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration.

“I think the headline was so intentionally inflammatory, and even listed trans people as like 1.4 million Americans who ‘opt’ to live as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth.

“I’m like, I am not opting for this. I didn’t opt into this,” Russom added. “This is taking care of myself… This administration, in particular, has been a real spiritual challenge to continue to stay engaged, but also to not let it make me crazy, and it didn’t make me crazy.

“When I saw that article, it really upset me, and it really scared me, and it was my connection with other trans women and people in my community that allowed me to recalibrate.”

New York-based singer, songwriter and model Morgin DuPont said:

“I’m a type of woman. I talk about my experiences as a type of woman. I’m not singing about injecting estrogen in my thigh…I write from a person’s point of view, cause my experience isn’t that different from any other woman. There’s this perception that trans women are so vastly different from cis women, and that’s not the case.”

Singer, songwriter, dancer, actress and LGBTQ activist Mila Jam said: 

“I knew that music was important to the world. It’s the one thing that transcends all boundaries. We connect through each other through music.”

22-year-old artist Jaimie Wilson said:

“You can’t erase a human. I think [Trump] thinks of it as a word instead of there’s actual faces and people behind that word.”

Watch the full panel discussion below:

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.