Michigan Health Department Proposes ‘Gender Expression’ Mandates For Child Care

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has just released proposed rules that would require “child caring institutions” to “consider a youth’s gender identity when determining a sleeping arrangement.” This includes facilities organized for “receiving minor children for care, maintenance, and supervision, usually on a 24-hour basis.” This does not appear to include licensed day care providers, which fall under a separate definition for “child care organizations.”

“Gender identity” is defined as “an individual’s self-conception as being male, female, both, or neither.”

Child care institutions must also “provide access to clothing that is consistent with the youth’s gender expression.”

Gender expression “means how a person publicly expresses or presents their gender, which may include behavior and outward appearance such as dress, hair, make-up, body language, and voice. Components of gender expression may or may not align with gender identity.”