The following is the transcript from my vblog titled "16 States and More" published 06.20.2013
If you'd like to watch the video, please click here.
I love you, my orange peanuts. Until next time.
"Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized." - Albert Einstein
Hey guys. It's Colby here. I just wanted to do my first video today and get the ball rolling on this video blog and everything like that. Today we're gonna talk about Transgender Non-discrimination facts. This may get a bit political as I'm a little bit passionate about it and I'll probably get off topic, but I'll do my best to reign myself in, alright? Don't judge me.
As you may know, a few days ago, Governor Markell of Delaware signed a transgender nondiscrimination act that will prohibit discrimination stemming from bias based on gender identity. This is an awesome accomplishment for the trans community. Adding Delaware to the list of 16 states, including Washington DC, to sign something similar. With bills like this, a trans person cannot be discriminated against when it comes to housing, public accommodations, insurance and employment. Employment and insurance are HUGE steps in which the trans community is trying to make changes to right now. That's not to say that public accommodations, housing, school, credit, things like that aren't as important. But these two things are what the trans community really, really needs right now. We just, we have to have it. I know there's been a lot of opposition for it. For example, many opponents called this the "Bathroom Bill" and were upset about the safety of women and children. I get that, I mean, I do. But as a general rule, trans are not sexually deviant. They're not generally rapist or things like that. In fact, a lot of them are rape victims of some kind, or some kind of abuse. THat's not for everybody, but, in the experience and the social networking that i've done, that kinda tends to be the case. Here's the thing though: Trans people don't want to molest people just because they want to be the opposite sex. When I used the men's bathroom in the Denver airport, it wasn't to look at a guy or anything like that, it was because I had to go to the bathroom. I was about to board a three and a half hour flight to Charlotte. I'm not going to use the lavatory on a plane because they're tiny and I'm claustrophobic. I just don't want to go there. On to support for things like this. I'm really glad to see Beau Biden, who is the son of Joe Biden, coming out as a strong supporter. We need more support and we need more vocal support that can actually make things happen. It's nice to have celebrities support trans equality like they do gay equality, but at the end of the day, what we need is we need society to support us and we need politicians to support us because they're the ones that make things happen. My mom is not a die-hard conservative, but she certainly is more conservative than I am. But she supports me. She supports my rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. She wants me to get married, she wants me to have a family and God only knows how many nights she has stayed awake worrying about me, wondering if I'm okay, hoping that I am strong enough to face the hardships that I have to face by being a trans person. Everybody needs that support and if society were just a little more lenient - which I think we're going in that direction. We're going in the right direction where laws like this won't need to be made. A straight man can walk into a bathroom and not worry is he breaking the law? He can go into a mens bathroom. For me, I identify as a guy. Why do I fear going into a bathroom? I shouldn't have that fear. I shouldn't be afraid of someone beating me up. I don't necessarily have that fear, but I am afraid of getting caught because of what society is going to think of me. They're going to think "What a sicko" "What a freak" and if you know me, you know that's not me. I'm wayyy off topic. Let's get back on track. Sorry about that.
Little tidbit I don't think many people know: Federal courts from the 1970s through the 1990s generally denied sex-discrimination claims brought by transgender people? Completely denied. Shut down. Not acknowledged as a matter worth dealing with. Within the 16 states that provide protection against - or protection for - transgender people, "gender identity" is a protected characteristic. Which basically means that however your identify, you're protected. That covers… what are the 16 states? CO, CA, DE, HI, IL, IA, MD, ME, MN, NM, NJ, NC, OR, RI, VT, WA, DC. I think that's 17. I counted on my fingers, that's 17. Now, that's what's in all of them. And they're all a little different, which is good. It kind of suits the need of the state which is very important. Now, in CO, IL, MN, ME, OR, WA laws prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, and include gender identity or expression which I think is awesome. Because no matter how you relate, whether you're gay, straight or whatever, you're still protected. Which is definitely a step in the right direction. Rock on to those states. CA goes a little bit farther to protect trans people by including gender identity within the statutory definition of sex. So, if I lived in CA, I would be, in the eyes of the law, a man. I may not - and I'm not sure if that means if you've had your surgery or not, but my interpretation because of how I identify. Which, rock on. According to the National Center for Lesbian Rights, NCLR; CA, CO, DE IL, IA, ME, MN, NJ, NM, OR, RI, VT, DC and Washington state prohibit discrimination against employment. Why I like this law is because it can help a trans person not only get a job but KEEP a job once they get it. If you start a job as one sex, like for example if I started a job as Megan, I could transition into Colby and I would not be discriminated against for that. Which, is something that Oklahoma doesn't have but they need. I've been through that and it's not a comfortable thing to go through. This law can even protect them so they can even use the restroom consistent with their gender at work. I could've used the mens bathroom, not that I would have wanted to, but that's what you can do. Which is really cool. And I've noticed, filling out applications, that there are many places that do not even ask for your gender anymore. You can offer that information, it's completely optional. I'm not sure if that's a federal law that's going out or if it's companies just adapting to that. It's pretty cool, I like that. I can walk into a place and be like "Hey, I'm Colby" and maybe they can tell form my voice that I'm not on hormones, maybe not. It doesn't really matter because at the end of the day, I am who I am. My gender does not tell you or does not define how good of an employee I will be. I think it's very important to have that kind of protection. more in the workplace than society. I would rather be protected more at work than I would at an airport. I think the reason ro that being is because so much of our lives are centered around our jobs, our careers. And if I'm not in a safe environment, I don't think I want to work there. It's very important to me.
I guess that's really all that I have. I just wanna close by saying I am a person. I deserve to be treated as such. Unless I'm a complete douchebag to you, then you can't treat me like a douchebag. I feel like with these laws that is taking a lot of the judgment away. Because I know that my presence as a trans person - my presence in general because I don't identify as a trans person, I identify as a man and I have for many years. I'm a man and my presence in society is not hindering your quality of life in any way. It's not hindering anybody's quality of life at all. All I'm doing is the same thing that everybody else is doing. I have hopes, I have dreams. I want to get married, have a family, have a career that I love, I want the American dream. And I'm an American. I get - I have the right - to earn that. When I'm being discriminated against, that makes it a lot harder. On the wayside, that makes it a lot more gratifying when I do accomplish something. But I just want to be able to do something without having to go through 30 hoops when a "normal" person only has to go through two. Why should I be forced to go through more, be forced to prove more of who I am to somebody? It's none of your business.
I'm done. Thank you for watching. Like. Share. Comment. Do nothing. Whatever you want. But walk away with this one thing: Just know, that no matter what, I love you.
Resources:
"Delaware Governor Markell Signs Transgender Nondiscrimination Act", The New Civil Rights Movement, Jean Ann Esselink, 2013
"State by State Guide to Laws That Prohibit Discrimination Against Transgender People", National Center for Lesbian Rights, 2010
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