Barney Frank and the Slippery Split-ENDA Slope
Regarding Rep. Barney Frank's divisive and disgusting decision to kick transgender people out of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Regarding Rep. Barney Frank's divisive and disgusting decision to kick transgender people out of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
My time in the queer press exposed me to a lot of transphobia among older gays and lesbians. I think it's generational. Younger LBGT folks have more progressive attitudes to gender identity. A broad generalization, of course - but the exceptions I meet are frankly exceptional.
ReplyDeleteI think that's part of it. But some of it isn't just transphobia, it's a failure to realize how much work T people have done for the GLB movement (Stonewall, anyone?) and how discrimination on gender identity and appearance can happen to people who don't identify as T, too. For example, the butch lesbian woman who was thrown out of a restroom in NYC recently has partnered with a transgender rights organization to help fight her discrimination case.
ReplyDeleteTrans-phobia....how about wanting to be able to prosecute some people for beating up queer kids instead of having absolutely nothing?
ReplyDeleteJohn, I think you misunderstand the bill. It is not hate crimes legislation and has no bearing on protecting queer kids from getting beat up. It is an Employment Non-Discrimination Act, focused on workplace discrimination.
ReplyDeleteWhich is not to say queer people of all ages don't deserve protection in employment, only that transgender people are equally deserving of protection.
I find it fascinating that the same organizations that absolutely refuse to accept anything less than "marriage" for gays and lesbians (even if that "civil union" carried the same rights and priviledges under law as current heterosexual "marriage") were willing to get behind an ENDA bill that doesn't fully protect everyone. I have to go turn off my hypocrisy detector now.
ReplyDelete