Photo: ACLU of NC
Five years ago I was hiking the Appalachian Trail when I reached a zone with cell phone service and received an urgent call from my wife Katy. Our teenage daughter Hunter wanted to partner with the ACLU of North Carolina as a plaintiff in a legal challenge toHB2, the law that had been rammed through the North Carolina General Assembly in 2016 to restrict transgender people like her from using the restroom of her choice. As a student on a University of North Carolina campus, the law specifically targeted Hunter, and she felt passionately about taking a stand against discrimination.
Sadly, many lawmakers seemed to have not learned their lesson. Nearly three dozen states have proposed bills seeking to ban trans youth from participating in school sports. Many states are pushing bills that punish doctors who provide trans-affirming medical care. A bill like this has passed in Arkansas, and North Carolina’s bill, even more egregiously, bans care until the age of 21; our daughter Hunter only just turned 22.
Hunter Schafer.Cindy Ord/Getty
As parents, Katy and I are pained at the news of this anti-trans crusade, because we know that most Americans don’t want to harm people for being who they are. Polling consistently shows that Americans support protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination, and a recent study showed that a majority of people oppose specific anti-transgender bills.
It feels like some lawmakers, however, are trying to pull us back and undo the progress that our country has made on the question of transgender dignity and equality.
What we really need to be doing is pushing forward, because in most states, LGBTQ people remain vulnerable to discrimination in key areas of life, including public spaces like restaurants, stores and services like ride shares and public transit. We need to be encouraging municipalities to pass LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances, as seven already have done just this year in North Carolina. We need to be calling on our senators — including Thom Tillis and Richard Burr here in North Carolina — to support the Equality Act, which protects LGBTQ people in every area of life.
Some folks have raised concerns about whether the Equality Act interferes with people’s religious freedom. But as devoted people of faith, Katy and I strongly disagree with these concerns.
Mac and Katy Schafer.Mac and Katy Schafer
This is the pathway forward: Commit to the health and well-being of all people, including LGBTQ people. Recognize that we are all children of God and made in the image of God. Abandon efforts to single people out for discrimination, especially these recent efforts that target children. We must come together to pass full and clear nondiscrimination protections at the federal level. When we make this vision a reality, we will honor the full humanity of people nationwide — and when we honor the full continuum of human beings, all of us are made better and more whole.
source: people.com
