An Open Letter To The Human Rights Campaign
Dear Human Rights Campaign,
I’m sure that y’all have plenty to worry about given the economic climate and a slowing stream of donations, but can’t you take like 90 seconds to write out a spiel for every volunteer to memorize and repeat when asked about the Human Rights Campaign’s stance on transgender rights? I mean, anything remotely convincing will do.
Because based off my interaction with one HRC rep this morning, I’m convinced that either you’ve been doing a shitty job training your volunteers and have left them hopelessly misinformed OR they’re purposely being misleading in hopes of tricking me into supporting your organization.
This is what Patrick and I were told this morning, when I questioned the volunteer on transgender issues:
“I know some people are upset that we supported that bill which wasn’t trans-inclusive, but just so you know for the future, all the legislation we’re introducing this year also protects gender identity and expression.”
This would be rather reassuring, except for the part where “that bill” — better known as ENDA — was also trans-inclusive when it was first introduced. And look where that got us. The language “gender identity and expression” was later removed when it appeared it would not pass if included. As a result, pretty much every other LGBT organization in existence, most notably the National Gay and Lesbian Task force, pulled their support for the bill. They weren’t going to back legislation with their time and money, unless it included protections for all. And yet! The HRC continued to support the bill, despite having previously made a very public commitment to only support all-inclusive legislation. Liars, liars, fairy wands on fire.
And by the way, in case you thought this shit is irrelevant for the straights, keep in mind that “gender expression” applies to all — transgender or not, gay or straight, white or royal ass purple — since even the most unqueer of folks can and do get fired for not conforming to gender-related workplace norms. The revised version of the bill — the one HRC blindly threw their support behind — doesn’t protect chicks like your sister or mother or best friend or ME who may identify straight women or tote around über masculine boyfriends, but who need these protections in the boardroom as much as the queerest of queers. Because all those perfectly straight, perfectly safe people who fuck the right gender but maybe sometimes express their own in non-traditional ways? (Girls who wear overalls! Boys who like eyeliner!) Yeah, they can get fired for that in the majority of American states and have zero legal recourse. That’s right, you can be a victim of transphobia without even identifying as gender-queer. Not such a safe existence, after all, huh? And THIS was what was cut from ENDA.
The HRC has done a lot of great things but there’s a reason why it has a reputation as an elitist, non-inclusive organization. It’s uncritical of powerful politicians, most notably Obama (who I do not count among LGBT supporters, by the way). It’s almost entirely fundraising-minded. And as the ENDA debacle illustrates, it prefers political expediency over principle. Sure, you may argue that “incremental progress” is better than nothing, but if the same argument were applied to civil rights, we’d still be stuck in an era of “separate but equal”. The original ENDA was for all of us, and the revision HRC backed was a cop-out.
Seeing as how this was all a very public blow to the HRC’s image just a few short years ago, it’s just slightly, well, embarrassing when you’re being represented and defended by a volunteer who has no idea what your platform is on something that is extremely controversial and important to your donors. This is only like the most divisive issue of the past decade, after all. Is it so much to ask that your volunteers (in Boston, of all places!) at least feign knowledge on the topic? Because he clearly had no idea what the fuck was my point.
So for the ENDA slight and for this one, I say FUCK YOU, HRC. Based on how totally uninformed your volunteer appeared, I’m not convinced that your priorities are any different today than they were a few years ago.
Sincerely,
Lena Chen
