Tell Speaker Pelosi: Pass the Trans Bill of Rights resolution!
Call Speaker Pelosi:
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Call Script
My name is __________. My zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
I’m concerned that Democrats are standing by in apparent inaction while Republicans at every level of government are demonizing and taking away the rights of transgender Americans.
Rep. Jayapal introduced a resolution back in June that would call for a federal Trans Bill of Rights. The House has passed numerous other resolutions to send a message about what Democrats stand for, which I support, but the House has stayed conspicuously silent on this one. That also sends a message, and it’s a message that concerns me.
It’s time for the House Democratic caucus to send the message that Democrats will protect trans Americans. Please pass House Resolution 1209.
Background
As Americans, we cherish the freedom to be ourselves and live our lives how we see fit. Our lives, our directions, our very identities are not decided for us at birth. Nobody can tell us who we are but us.
Gender is no exception. Some people’s gender matches what they were assigned at birth—the term for that is “cisgender.” Some folks have a gender different from what they were assigned at birth—the term for that is “transgender,” or “trans” for short.
The right wing abhors any notion that people might be free to set the course of their own lives. In their view of things, your life is decided for you from the very start. Whatever was assigned to you at birth is your lot in life, for the whole of your life. You’re not allowed to chart your own course; you’re not allowed to be who you know yourself to be, who you want to be. You must not be allowed this freedom.
But we are free. Human rights are innate. We are free, unless we are made not free.
And so that is what they try to do. These bigots, cloaked in a banner of false Christianity in order to hide behind the First Amendment, wage a campaign of oppression to force all others to conform to their hateful ideology.
It starts with words: They tell lies that smear trans folks (and LGBTQ+ folks generally) as deceivers and pedophiles and sexual abusers. They burn books that celebrate trans people’s lives and commemorate their struggles. They spout hate speech from the tallest platforms, and then when they are called out, they pretend to be censored, even as they pursue censorship of others. They don’t care about hypocrisy because they don’t care about principle, only power.
And when they have power, they pass laws. They are not all talk and no action; they tell lies to build support for horrific action. In Florida, the “don’t say gay” law censors the existence of LGBTQ+ people within the walls of the classroom; teachers newly forbidden from mentioning their lives and families have left the profession and kids are required to go back into—or never leave—the closet. In other states, they try to ban kids from school sports if they’re transgender, or mandate that kids be subjected to genital inspections upon demand by any parent.
Most recently, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia introduced a bill that would ban gender-affirming healthcare. This is life-saving care; trans folks forced to go without it can suffer from dysphoria (the sense that one’s body does not match one’s self) so bad that it drives them to suicide. This isn’t theoretical; gender-affirming care saves lives and makes it possible for those who receive it to live happy, healthy lives.
Rep. Greene wants to take that away from them. Maybe from your kids. Maybe from you. She is pushing a federal ban on gender-affirming healthcare, to punish trans people for being themselves and exercising their freedoms. She either doesn’t believe that this will kill people or she’s OK with that.
In June, Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, introduced a resolution in support of trans people’s rights. While a House resolution does not create a law, it would be a clear statement that trans Americans are our neighbors and our loved ones, people with rights that must be protected.
So far, Rep. Jayapal’s resolution calling for a Trans Bill of Rights has sat in committee. The hateful actions of the far right demand a response. This would be a great start.
References
Jayapal, Cicilline, Newman, Takano, Torres Lead Members in Introducing the Trans Bill of Rights, June 28,2022
Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to criminalise life-saving healthcare for trans kids, Pink News, Aug 19, 2022