The United States and the general public have been more progressive about their perception on the LGBTQ+ community now than they have in the past. This past summer the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide and just recently U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan of Mississippi declared the ban of same-sex couples unconstitutional making it legal for same-sex couples to adopt in all 50 states.
So, with all these progressive laws in correlation to he LGBTQ+ movement with challenging our societal heteronormative expectations of family values, is it possible for there to be any gay hate in this country? There is.
These landmark cases blur our judgement and outlook about the LGBTQ+ movement as anti-gay legislation is being passed in many states. However, the media does not do much of a good job delivering bad news as they are with the good. Without going into conspiracy and speculation about media intentions, the fact of the matter is that these state bills that are being proposed and later passed. 200 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been passed this year alone according to ABC news. States such as North Carolina and Mississippi are reflecting backwards thinking in connection to providing service and having gender neutral bathrooms.
According to ABC News, North Carolina’s “Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act” states that “all public schools, government agencies and public college campuses” have to require “multiple-occupancy bathrooms and changing facilities, such as locker rooms, be designated for use only by people based on their ‘biological sex’ stated on their birth certificate.” As a result, this requires for transgender individuals to change their current gender identity on their birth certificate in order to use the bathroom that corresponds with what they identify themselves with.
On one hand, it could be argued that the state is pushing for transgender individuals to a path that legally considers and respects their current gender identity. However, they must go out of their way in order to do so. The importance of gender neutral bathrooms relates to the fact that it address everyone’s needs without strictly highlighting a gender divide. The transgender community has recently received so much more backlash and hate that I think people need to understand that it is the LGBTQ+ movement for equality, not just the gay rights movement. The “T” tends to be left out and often ignored as there has been so much of a focus on same-sex marriage and other oppressive laws that do not allow for gays and lesbians to be given the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts. Gay marriage is not the only task on the LGBTQ+ movement’s agenda. There are many more norms that are yet to be challenged in order to achieve equality for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community.
At Augustana, there are many students who are nonchalant and proud to support gay and lesbian students. However, supporting transgender students or the notion of gender neutral bathrooms is shaky territory for most. Even within the LGBTQ+ community, there are gays and lesbians who cannot fully grasp and support the transgender fight for equality. It gives me the up most disgust and embarrassment to hear my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to justify their views by stating that they do not understand the need to recognize the transgender community. If anything, being gay or lesbian, you know every last detail about what it means and feels like to not be given the same rights as others. I am not saying that gender and sexuality are interchangeable, but the struggles that gays, lesbians, and transgender folks experience are not drastically different. How can you ask for acceptance, but in the same breath not support members in your community who are fighting the same fight? It is counter productive and needs to be addressed more often by LGBTQ+ organizations. We have made great progress in the movement, but there is a long way yet to go.