As the Out Front team has stated, the LGBT community celebrated some huge milestones in October. The last week in October was no exception as President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, extending the definition of federal hate crimes to include attacks motivated by sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. If you haven’t gotten a chance to read it, please take a few moments to look at Michael Murphy’s last blog posting discussing his thoughts about the bill, and his personal experiences dealing with the aftermath of both events.
While the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is monumental for many reasons, in this post, I’d like to focus on what it means for the transgender community. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, it is the first protections for transgender people in U.S. history. It is the first time that the U.S. government is coming out publicly to assert that violence against transgender people is wrong and will not be tolerated.
Does this mean an end to violence against transgender individuals? Unfortunately, probably not…at least not today, or tomorrow. What it does mean is an increase in communication and awareness– educating the public and law enforcement officials about the common hate-motivated violence against transgender people, and explaining that violence against anyone is not just unacceptable, but illegal and now punishable by federal law. As we have seen with other social and cultural movements, communication, awareness and education are the first steps towards enacting lasting change.
Since we’re discussing milestone moments in the transgender community, I’d like to call out that last week the College of William and Mary, the nation’s second oldest university, announced its first transgender homecoming queen, Jessee Vasold. While I still bear the sting of NOT being chosen as my school’s homecoming queen (note: still waiting on that recount, North Warren Regional High School), how amazing is it that Vasold, who identifies as gender-queer, was nominated by her peers as the college’s best example of school pride?
Additionally, as we’re always talking about the power of words and the importance of language, I’d like to pay special attention to Vasold’s preference for using gender-neutral pronouns like ze or zir, rather than he, she or her, him. I know I feel relatively confident, especially after this post, in speaking to and about the LGBT community, yet I have to admit that I’ve never used the pronouns ze or zir in referring to transgender or genderqueer people.
Lastly, in a post dedicated to the transgender community, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Chaz Bono, and his very public transition from female to male. Did anyone catch his Entertainment Tonight interview last week? I’d love to hear your thoughts about his journey, and what it means for other transgender individuals that may be going through similar transformations.
SUBSCRIBE