The North Carolina General Assembly just pushed a bill through both houses and it was signed by Governor Pat McCrory that strikes down all existing LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances across the state. This harmful policy was advanced over the span of hours without any testimony from transgender people of color - those who face some of the most rampant discrimination. Transgender people of color live at the intersections of transphobia, racism and poverty.
The idea that a state would sign into law a policy that takes away any protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and specifically denying transgender people the ability to use the facilities that match their gender identity would be horrifying enough - the codification of extreme bigotry- but the governor made it that much worse when he said, "I signed bipartisan legislation to stop the breach of basic privacy and etiquette, ensure privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms."
This statement plays into the disgusting rhetoric and bathroom panic that implies that transgender people are a threat to the safety of women and children. The implication that cisgender women somehow need to be protected from transgender people is not only absurd, it is also insulting. It is transgender people who are victims of violence at the hands of cisgender people.
More transgender women were killed in 2015 than any other year on record and transgender people face incredible harassment and discrimination. More than 75% of young people
who expressed a transgender identity or gender non-conformity while in school report being harassed and 53% of transgender people say they have been verbally harassed or disrespected in a place of public accommodation like a restaurant, a government agency or even a medical office.
Transgender people also face threats and physical assaults, including in bathrooms and locker rooms. It is transgender people who are being hurt and killed. Let's make that clear.
But this bill is more than another ignorant and hate fueled attack on transgender people. It also prohibits a city or county to require a private contractor to pay a set wage in order to bid on projects. So basically it is saying that you can't require a fair wage to be paid by those who are doing business with a city our county in North Carolina.
With transgender people facing up to four times the national unemployment rate, this new law is doubly dangerous the transgender community.
Every lawmakers that supported this law is complicit in the
disrespect, violence, abuse and the denial of human dignity that transgender people face in our state. But it goes beyond North Carolina. This law sends a message of hate throughout the country.
People are dying. Transgender people are dying and the people who are supposed to represent them are not only not doing anything to help, they are making it worse. They are contributing to the climate that disrespects and dehumanizes transgender people.
We must do more than push back against this abhorrent policy. We need real change - a change in the systems that are failing us all and a change in who is representing us.
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