In a jaw-dropping 180-degree shift, Acting Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Andrea Lucas, defended a move that effectively strips transgender workers of federal protections and claimed it’s Orwellian compliance with President Trump’s executive orders.
At her Senate confirmation hearing on June 18, 2025, Lucas admitted that yes, trans workers are technically protected under civil rights laws, but refused to defend them. Instead, she dropped seven lawsuits the agency had brought on behalf of transgender or gender-nonconforming employees and reclassified every new gender-identity discrimination complaint as the lowest priority, a “C-level” case that’s functionally ignored.
Sen. Patty Murray (D‑Wash.) grilled Lucas on a case involving a California store manager who groped and harassed an employee, only for the EEOC to walk away “because it was impossible to both comply with the president’s executive order…and also zealously defend the workers.” The agency even declined to clarify how it will handle future trans discrimination cases beyond issuing “right to sue” notices and offering mediation, then abandoning the matter.
Lucas told the Senate HELP committee that the EEOC was never an independent civil rights champion but rather “an executive branch agency…committed to dismantling identity politics,” bending entirely to Trump’s January executive directives to “restore biological truth” and erase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) frameworks.
It’s more than neglect; it’s betrayal. The Supreme Court’s landmark 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County ruling made clear that discriminating against someone for being transgender is discrimination “based on sex.” That protection doesn’t disappear just because someone decides to ignore it. The EEOC’s internal memo instructing staff to code trans-related complaints as “meritless” flips a middle finger to both the rule of law and the trans people relying on it.
DEI? Gone. Gender identity? Deprioritized. EEOC’s own lawsuits? Dropped. And when questioned about the legitimacy of enforcing protections for trans people, Lucas answered with cold, bureaucratic compliance: “There are men and there are women. Full stop,” she said, criticizing the Biden administration’s efforts as “weaponizing the EEOC.”
Meanwhile, former EEOC commissioners and civil rights advocates are suing, calling Lucas’s maneuvers “abandonment” of legal responsibility and even unconstitutional. Democratic Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels has filed suit, highlighting that forcing out bipartisan voices and shutting down protections violates the Civil Rights Act.
For trans workers and their loved ones, this is more than policy wonkery; it’s a targeted blow designed to strip away accountability and embolden harassers. Understand this clearly: if you face workplace discrimination now, the EEOC might refuse to help. You’ll be handed a “right to sue” letter and left to fend for yourself.
What can you do? Talk to LGBTQ-focused legal support groups like Lambda Legal, the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, and the ACLU. Document any discrimination, harassment, or misuse of pronouns. File requests for individual mediation, but prepare for the worst: you might need to bring lawsuits directly or seek state protections.
We refuse to look away. Labeling our existence as “meritless” is a political weapon, one wielded by folks eager to erase our rights. But calling it what it is, systemic bigotry masked as bureaucracy, strengthens our resistance.
Trans rights are human rights. And every time a federal agency backs away, another ally steps in to say: not on our watch. We’ll keep pushing back through law, protest, and unyielding belief in our worth.
