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I have a transgender son. I love him unconditionally and fully support him. Watching him realize and live as his true self has been so remarkably positive and affirming.
This is a thread on what this election means to me as a parent of a transgender child.
This is a thread on what this election means to me as a parent of a transgender child.
If you support Donald Trump, I take that personally as the parent of a transgender child. It's personal to me because the policies and positions of this administration have treated transgender people as subhuman and not worthy of legal protections in any aspect of life.
Don't believe me or think I'm exaggerating? Read the article I have shared a link to here. The tweets that follow summarize this adminstration's policies and the positions it has taken in court with respect to transgender people. https://transequality.org/the-discrimination-administration
According to the Trump Administration, my son and other transgender people:
- Can be discriminated against by health care providers, to the extent that they can even be denied life-saving medical services if a doctor feels like it. They can die because a particular doctor . . .
- Can be discriminated against by health care providers, to the extent that they can even be denied life-saving medical services if a doctor feels like it. They can die because a particular doctor . . .
doesn't want to treat them for so-called "religious or moral reasons."
- Should not be protected from discrimination at school under Title IX. As a result, they cannot be guaranteed equal treatment at school or equal access to school resources and facilities.
- Should not be protected from discrimination at school under Title IX. As a result, they cannot be guaranteed equal treatment at school or equal access to school resources and facilities.
- Should not be protected from discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (i.e., they can be discriminated against in areas of public life on the basis of their gender identity).
- Are not protected under federal law from being discriminated against in employment decisions. In other words, the Trump Administration believes transgender people can be fired for no reason other than being transgender (thankfully, SCOTUS recently has ruled otherwise).
- Cannot use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity.
- Can be discriminated against by businesses because those businesses don't accept their gender identity; businesses can cite a religious or moral opposition to deny service to transgender people.
- Can be discriminated against by businesses because those businesses don't accept their gender identity; businesses can cite a religious or moral opposition to deny service to transgender people.
- Do not need to be provided housing in homeless shelters, even when otherwise eligible, and even though LGBTQ+ people suffer homelessness at a higher rate than the general population.
- Should have their rights determined in court by judges with anti-LGBTQ+ histories (e.g., Neil Gorsuch, Gregory Katsas, Kyle Duncan, Mark Norris, Matthew Kacsmaryk, Jeff Mateer, and Gordon Giampietro, just to name a few Trump judicial nominees). Not all of these judges . . .
ended up being appointed, but most did, and regardless, the message these nominations sent is clear.
- Cannot serve our country in any branch of the United States armed forces.
- Cannot serve our country in any branch of the United States armed forces.
- Must be housed in prisons in a way consistent with their assigned sex at birth, even though doing so is extremely harmful and dangerous to them.
- Should not be acknowledged or recognized as worthy of protection in international human rights documents.
- Should not be acknowledged or recognized as worthy of protection in international human rights documents.
- Should not be allowed to serve as foster care or adoptive parents.
- Should not be permitted to play interscholastic sports for teams which correspond to their gender identity.
- Should not be permitted to play interscholastic sports for teams which correspond to their gender identity.
My family is fortunate to live in a state which offers many of the protections the federal government is abandoning / has already abandoned under President Trump, but that's not the case in many areas of the country, and the fact remains that this man thinks my son is less than.
He thinks that my son is *literally* not a life worth saving, worth serving, worth loving, or worth protecting. When you support this man, you tell me you support policies which not only don't support my son being treated equally, but in fact actively strive to deem him unequal.
When you support Donald Trump, it tells me you don't care what happens to my son and those like him. I'm not being overly dramatic when I say it's personal. These policies can and will drastically and negatively harm people like my son.
I don't expect this will change any minds in this upcoming election, but I hope this is educational and eye-opening for some of you. I also hope you understand what my family sees when you openly support an administration which has taken the positions and actions outlined above.
Thanks to @TransEquality for their summary to which I linked above, and for their great work protecting the rights of people like my son.
