Crossroads of a Movement: Our Work is not Done

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-battaglino/at-the-crossroads-of-a-movement-our-work-is-not-done_b_7853616.html?utm_hp_ref=transgender

The Huffington Post/by Stephanie Battaglino      07/30/2015

"What an amazing three months it has been! Now that we have all caught our collective breath from an unprecedented Pride Month, let's step back for a moment and consider what has transpired during this time for the entire LGBTQ community.

These past 90 or so days has brought us a large dose of Caitlyn Jenner -- from her coming out interview (as Bruce at the time) with Diane Sawyer in mid-April, to the "Call Me Caitlyn" spread in Vanity Fair in early June, and most recently with her being honored as the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at this year's ESPY Awards. Oh, and lest I forget this little ruling made by the Supreme Court on the last Friday in June making it legal for gay couples to marry in every state of our union! It's safe to say that many of us in the LGBTQ community are only just now emerging from the afterglow of that monumental event."

I think ENDA is only part of the solution.

If people understood, really understood why we do what we do, discrimination would diminish. We're still thought of as rebels who refuse to accept the role society gives us, crazy people who can't face the truth, or sexual fetishists. If more people understood that we were born this way and that in all other ways we're just like everyone else, people would not be taken aback by seeing a trans waiter/clerk/manager/CEO and supervisors and employers would be less concerned about hiring us.

Alas, our community has very little patience for educating the public, and we're suffering the consequences.

Passing ENDA would only be "window dressing." Yes, aving a law behind you would be nice, but the fact of the matter is many states are "at will" work states, that means employers can can rid of a person for almost any reason. No employer is going to outright say that they are letting an employee go because they are LGB or T or Q, No, some other truped up sharge woyuld be used - or in "at will" state, they don't need to give a reason.

What we need to do is educate people that we're normal people with just a mind/body misalignment that is easily(?) correctable. How we do that I don't know. If I had the answer, I'd run for public office, but having people like Jazz, Caitlyn, Laverne, Laura Jane Grace, Kristen Beck and so many others, lets people see the fact that trans-people come from every walk of life and are their friends, family and neighbors.