Roger Severino most recently was director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at the Heritage Foundation, where he concerned himself with "religious liberty, marriage and life issues." But the Trump Administration has been staffing itself with Heritage people, so Severino has been chosen to be director of the Office of Civil Rights at HHS.

The OCR is charged with enforcing protection of patient's privacy and civil rights, and making sure that they are free from discrimination. The position does not require Senate confirmation.

When HHS issued rules banning discrimination against transgender patients under the ACA last year, Severino and fellow Heritage staffer Ryan Anderson were livid and published Proposed Obamacare Gender Identity Mandate Threatens Freedom of Conscience and the Independence of Physicians

By prohibiting differential treatment on the basis of “gender identity” in health services, these regulations propose to penalize medical professionals and health care organizations that, as a matter of faith, moral conviction, or professional medical judgment, believe that maleness and femaleness are biological realities to be respected and affirmed, not altered or treated as diseases.

They would effectively require controversial procedures, such as ‘sex-reassignment’ surgery, that respected medical professionals argue have not been proven effective in treating serious mental health conditions.

Respect for the "medical professionals" mentioned is quite minimal...one might even measure it as virtually non-existent.

I could not think of a more dangerous person to head up the Office of Civil Rights at HHS. Once again, Donald Trump is declaring war against our community by appointing anti-LGBTQ people at all levels of his administration.

--JoDee Winterhof, HRC

This appointment, made without fanfare, is part of disturbing trend by the Trump administration of naming people who disagree or outright oppose the mission or role of an agency or office to leadership positions within those entities.

--Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights