Transgender London

Why We Must Engage The LGB Community

The failure of inclusion of transgender in ENDA in the United States underscored a very important need for the Transgendered Population everywhere. From the political standpoint, the LGB community needed our support for this legislation but when push came to shove, we were excluded. It left many of us bitter after the HRC was quick to take our financial support then leave us on the curb. Many in our community worked long and hard for inclusion and the complaints are certainly justified; we were sold out with our own money and efforts.

The fact remains that we do have a common history of struggle and the division of that struggle really came about beginning with the AIDS crisis of the mid 1980's then as homosexuality became more accepted mainstream we were left behind. The fact that our communities have little in common sexually unless one who is transgendered is also gay should not stand in the way of our working together. However, even today there is lip service from the LGB community and little else. We do not see them arguing for transgender rights on any scale of note.

Still, we cannot afford to turn our backs on the LGB community. They have achieved enshrined human rights many places around the world as they should have. Their gains have certainly given us some advantage as a model to follow but, we do not have their numbers and so we need their support to assist us in our struggle. Simply, we cannot do it on our own. Sadly missed by most everyone is the fact that as long as one group is discriminated against then everyone suffers as a society; including the LGB community. Their gains are diminished by our failure to gain equality.

Another, and perhaps more poignant point is the marriage legislation (Proposition 8 et al.) in the United States. The LGB community doesn't apparently see the impact on the transgender community. While it is no the norm, many marriages do survive and even thrive where one partner is transitioned. The impact of the marriage laws has a significant effect on these marriages; many of them long term. Even here in Canada, there are pressures to revisit the marriage laws within our own parliament. Of course those parliamentarians and their supporters fail to see the larger impact on people, people deeply in love and their relationships. Theirs is often a theologically based argument.

Collectively, the LGBT community cannot afford to stand by and allow these elements to gain support in the broader population as it impacts every one of us in our fight for equality. This is not a fight that can be abandoned since parliament can take away those rights as easily as they granted them. The population at large are easily influenced by their own misunderstandings of LGBT and so, easily swayed to this minority point of view. It is easier for them to convince a thousand people of the evils of LGBT than it is for us to convince one person of the need for equality for everyone whether they are LGBT or not. It really is that simple.

For these very simplistic reasons, neither of our communities can afford to ignore the needs of the other nor can we afford to miscommunicate the importance of human rights for all. We truly need to understand one another in order to walk together in this continuing fight. Society is slow to change and these minority views are easily made populist so our fight is not specifically with the minority groups but rather with society at large. To accomplish this we have to show numbers and to do so, we must stand united with a common purpose rather than singular. That purpose is the advancement of human rights for all both within and without our communities. We cannot afford to brothers and sisters only during pride events; it has to be year round.

Kimberley

March 2009

This site was last updated 08/11/10