Certainly 2016 was not as a predictable year as many of us expected it to be. The advances the LGBTQ community had seen during the Obama Administration peaked in mid-2015 with Marriage Equality. Yet significant equality gaps were left wide open, especially for the T in LGBTQ.
President Obama and his Administration made historic strides to expand opportunities and advance equality and justice for all; including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Americans. From major legislative achievements to historic court victories to important policy changes, the President fought to promote the equal rights of all Americans — “no matter who they are or who they love”.
In 2016, state legislatures across the country proposed nearly 200 anti-LGBT measures, many of which the LGBTQ community and organization, and our allies and major corporations, managed to beat back. However, as the year closed, we saw North Carolina's controversial House Bill 2 law restricted bathroom access for transgender individuals still dominate the headlines. The N.C. General Assembly toyed with and then punted on HB2 repeal. That law has cost the state millions of dollars, hundreds of jobs, numerous entertainment and sporting events and its Republican governor. But while the financial cost is mentioned there is hardly any media coverage on the lives who the bill impacts, namely the transgender community who now, could be harassed and even arrested simply for using the bathroom based on the gender they identify with. We will see similar restrictions play out in other state legislative houses in 2017, most notably that of Texas.
We can safely predict that in 2017more of the same antics will be adopted by several anti-LGBTQ legislatures across the country. And it could get worse as many of the Federal advances made via either Presidential Executive Orders, or Federal Guidelines such as those issued by the State Department, HHS or HUD could be eliminated overnight by the new administration.
Ultimately, we don’t have a clear picture where Donald Trump stands on the broad range of LGBTQ issues. For example, he has shifted to state that he is for “traditional marriage”, and within a 24-hour period he went from stating he had “no problem with Caitlyn Jenner [a transgender woman] using the women’s restroom at Trump Tower” to stating that bathroom access should be left to state legislatures to decided. What we do know is that Trump is unpredictable and erratic, and likely a few other adjectives come to your mind too. What we do know is that he has surrounded himself with a heavy weight class of anti-LGBT leaders and this may not bode well for the LGBTQ community. Check out this list on Trump’s public positions: http://www.hrc.org/2016RepublicanFacts/donald-trump-opposes-nationwide-marriage-equality
Trump has said that one of his first big policy areas will be to affirm his election pledge to sign anti-LGBTQ ‘First Amendment Defense Act’. It was first introduced in the House on June 17, 2015 and would effectively legalize anti-LGBTQ discrimination by employers, businesses, landlords and healthcare providers, as long as they claim to be motivated by a firmly held religious beliefs. The Evangelical and far right Christian Conservative communities are eager to ensure this happens with a Republican-controlled Congress in place.
Amendments to, or elimination of, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will have a significant impact on the health coverage for many in the LGBTQ community. Especially transgender people and those living with HIV.
We should be prepared for a significant reduction or complete stoppage in the advancement of LGBTQ issues and actions as part of public policy. While a Supreme Justice pick by Trump could tilt the court towards the right, it will have limited impact on already established cases such as marriage equality. The justice however, could have dire impact on the progress of equality for new cases, especially when the Supreme Court takes up school bathroom rules for transgender students.
So is it all doom and gloom? It took me several weeks to get over the results from the U.S. election. But as I gathered my thoughts I felt just as emboldened as those who aim to discriminate against us. I knew that once again I will stand up and speak out against their hate. Harvey Milk said, “Burst down those closet doors once and for all, and stand up and start to fight.” Each of us, should be prepared to stand up and speak out. Whether to family, friends, neighbors or via testimony in state houses. Support pro-equality officials. Elect more of them. If you haven’t done so already, join your local, state and national equality organizations. Sign up for their email alert notifications. Track pro-, and anti-, LGBT bills in your state legislature. Be prepared to testify about the harm a bill could do to you, your family, or your friends and neighbors. Speak up loudly and vocally as to why discrimination is bad. If you are a person of faith, work with your local faith leadership.
Regardless, we should brace ourselves for an onslaught of anti-LGBT legislation in 2017; more bathroom bills, more religious objections, and more discrimination. But how we stop this is up to each of us. If we sit back and do nothing, then we allow the haters to hate.
As my good friend David Stacy, a government affairs director for the Human Rights Campaign said, "The way we're going to keep moving forward is for people to keep engaging, to keep fighting, to keep demanding justice. I know we can get there sooner rather than later, but the only way that's going to happen is for people to continue to demand it."
So let’s do just that. Engage, fight for equality and demand justice for all.
