Stop Hateful Political Attacks Based on Gender Identity

Target: Rosa DeLauro, Chair of House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services

Goal: Include transgender populations as federally protected class against discrimination.

Before the year was even a third of the way completed, state legislatures had introduced nearly 250 bills targeting LGBTQ individuals. A sizeable percentage of these bills have focused on transgender populations, restricting rights on a range of issues from restroom access to sports competition to healthcare for youth. As time has passed, these proposals have only gotten more extreme. One state law would send doctors to prison who provide gender-affirming treatments to young people, even when parents consent to these treatments. Another would subject athletes “suspected” of being transgender to genital examinations, ironically from the same politicians who like to accuse others of grooming and sexual abuse. And yet another “family-oriented” bill would force educators and school counselors to breach the trust of students by outing information about gender identity, told in confidence, to family members.

These hateful and politically motivated attacks on kids and vulnerable populations will only multiply and worsen in the absence of real and lasting protection. While 22 states have laws prohibiting discrimination against someone based on gender identity, no such safeguards exist at the federal level. Protections in education continue to be debated due to vague language, and a proposed law that has yet to be passed by Congress would afford some protection in the employment sector.

Sign the petition below to demand the nation’s leaders take the ambiguity out of equality and recognize gender non-conforming Americans as a protected class.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Representative DeLauro,

Transgender youth are at a critically higher risk for suicide attempts, homelessness, hate crimes, and a host of other dangers. The last thing they need is continuous and unrelenting attacks from their own political leaders. Yet this year is on track to shatter last year’s record for the introduction of anti-LGBTQ legislation in state chambers across the country. Transgender adults do not fare much better in escaping this hateful targeting.

These so-called “protection” laws amount to no more than political theatre for the benefit of the most extreme views that do not represent the vast majority of Americans. They must end now. And the only way they can end is through recognition of transgender and other gender non-conforming individuals as a protected class at the national level. Please honor Pride Month by supporting legislation that would put a stop to the destructive hate being peddled and fueled by politicians.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Sharon McCutcheon