So while it might appear that the work for LGBTQ+ civil rights is stalled, that stagnation exists on the national level. In states and municipalities across the country, language is being drafted, tested, and tried. Bills are being debated, lawsuits are being filed. In Nevada, for instance, a bill now being advanced in the legislature puts in place protections around medical facility usage. One provision “requires the facility to adapt electronic records to reflect the gender identities or expressions of gender diverse patients.” The phrase “gender diverse” represents a much broader and more fulsome way of understanding what gender is—far past the laws in the 1990s that tried to shoehorn transgender protections under the rubric of “sex.”<\/p>\n
Forty-five years after the first Equality Act, our national understanding of gender has changed significantly. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Passage of these protections not only improves life for transgender people in places where we live but also, and just as important, it sets the stage for the national work.<\/p>\n
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States function as laboratories, in a way, experimenting with laws and language and establishing precedents. Indeed, the way that the Equality Act has grown and changed since 1974 is largely in response to work done on the state and local levels.<\/p>\n
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It mirrors, in a way, the process that took place around marriage equality, where states such as Hawaii and Massachusetts passed early laws allowing for same-sex marriage—some of which were struck down by courts or overturned by voters.<\/p>\n
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But through sustained legislative and judicial battles, the language and legal precedents around marriage equality were refined and won in front of the Supreme Court. These state and local laws do matter and do have resonance beyond their communities.<\/p>\n
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Admittedly, a large volume of anti-transgender legislation is pending as well. Many states have pushed back with so-called “bathroom bills” or laws that prohibit state funding for medical treatment around gender reassignment. Just last month, the Trump administration proposed regulation that would revoke Obama-era protections against sex discrimination in health care. Most problematic are those states, including Texas, that have considered bills that allow for “religious carveouts” that would largely gut non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ individuals as well as proposed laws in states like South Dakota, that affect transgender youth, prohibiting instruction on gender dysphoria and restricting their ability to compete in athletics.<\/p>\n
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Oddly enough, whether state legislation is pushing a pro-transgender or anti-transgender stance, the same opportunity exists for conversation and education. The more gender identity is debated, the more the voting public is exposed to the term and wants to understand what it means.<\/p>\n
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In New Hampshire, where I live and where legislation around civil rights protection on gender identity passed in 2018 and legislation for nonbinary identification is being debated, advocacy and education efforts abound. There are “Ask a Transgender Person Anything<\/em>” sessions in public libraries; there are lobbying lunches for state legislators with panels of transgender citizens, ready to share their experiences. These are small grassroots efforts, but they are, I believe, what will make a difference.<\/p>\n
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Forty-five years after the first Equality Act, our national understanding of gender has changed significantly. It has changed because of legislative victories and defeats on the state and local level. It has changed because activists and advocates have been persistent and patient. We haven’t had success yet on the federal level, but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t making progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As legislation has languished in Congress, many cities and states are moving forward with their own non-discrimination bills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":33140,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","categories":[8,262],"tags":[],"article-type":[246],"master-category":[463],"special-series":[],"type-of-work":[],"class_list":["post-14109","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-justice","category-gender-justice","article-type-opinion","master-category-social-justice"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Fifty Years After Stonewall, the Real Fight for LBGTQ Rights Is Local - 精东影业 Magazine Solutions Journalism<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n