The address features Suzanne Goldberg, Kristen Clarke, and Dr. Rachel Levine of the Departments of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services respectively.
"We also want you to know that the Department of Education and the entire federal government stand behind you," Goldberg says to transgender students.
"Discrimination will not be accepted on our watch," adds Clark. "Right now, we are fighting against laws that tried to ban transgender athletes in West Virginia and deny healthcare for transgender people in Arkansas. We stand behind you and are ready to act to defend your rights."
"It is critical to support trans youth, their parents, and families to help them achieve the good health and well-being that everyone deserves," urges Dr. Levine, a male who identifies as a woman.
In response, Roger Severino, former director of the HHS Office of Civil Rights, recently told the "Washington Watch with Tony Perkins" radio program that the message was unusual.
"With so many things going on with COVID and all the uncertainty -- to focus on the transgender ideology I thought was an interesting choice," said Severino, who now works with the Ethics & Public Policy Center (EPPC). "If you really listened closely, it really is about allowing biological boys access to girls' locker rooms and access to the winner's podium in girls' sports, as well as healthcare."
Severino said he is shocked by how aggressive the Biden administration has been in this effort.
"This video is further evidence of where their focus is," he continued." You had someone from HHS, the Department of Education, as well as the Department of Justice, so it is definitely a whole new approach using every tool in their arsenal to push transgender ideology during back-to-school season."
Earlier this year, Arkansas became the first state to prohibit physicians from providing gender-affirming treatment for trans people under age 18 when it passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act. Critics take exception to claims that the state seeks to "deny healthcare."
