The Equality Act and Transgender Existence

        The Equality Act is one that has had various versions in the past. This most recent version was introduced February 18, 2021 and passed a week later in the U.S. House of Representatives. In a nutshell, it’s a bill that seeks to provide protections for LGBTQIA+ people across the U.S., whereas they currently vary wildly from state to state. The bill prohibits discrimination on account of sex, sexuality, and gender identity in public accommodations (the definition for which is expanded by this bill and is a contentious point) and other areas like education and housing. This bill has passed through the House (in a 224-206 split), and is on the way to the Senate where it will need 60 votes to avoid filibuster. On one side there is the issue of discrimination LGBQ and specifically transgender individuals experience due to a lack of civil rights protections. On the other are concerns for female sports and religious liberty. Many opponents believe that as the bill stands, it would jeopardize the safety of cisgender women and do away with the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which made exceptions in the Civil Rights Act for religious groups. These are legitimate issues that if left unaddressed will result in the bill’s failure.
        This bill brings to light a number of issues faced by LGBTQ and specifically transgender people that beg careful consideration. The focus of this article is not on the contentious points of the bill. Instead, the primary goal of this article is to raise awareness of the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ, expose the biases, and misinformation we may have unwittingly absorbed, and promote empathy. It is my hope to bring light to a misunderstood population under the LGBTQ umbrella.
        When talking about issues such as these, a number of things must be acknowledged. To start, understandings of gender identity and sexuality have varied across time and cultures. These understandings aren’t a new development, or a trendy fad. Instead, they are concepts requiring our renewed attention and consideration. LGBTQ folks will not simply disappear. We Christians must learn to appropriately have these sorts of conversations, and follow the highest command and calling of Christ: to love others just as we are loved by Him (John 13:34). The next consideration to keep in mind is this: we’re talking about a really sensitive issue for a vulnerable population. As such, they require an extra portion of care and consideration, because historically speaking, LGBTQ and specifically transgender people haven’t been afforded dignity and respect, in places like the church, media, the courts and just about everywhere else. They are a group that contends with poverty, healthcare inaccessibility, sexual violence, and homicides, at disproportionately higher rates than the rest of the U.S. population. Finally, ask yourself. How do you understand gender and sexuality? What does your family make of these topics, and what lessons (both silent and expressed) did they impart to you? Are these issues that are safe to discuss? What biases do you have?
        Gender affirmative procedures for children are something that are significantly misunderstood, even by elected officials. They are noninvasive and nonpermanent procedures that help youth align their felt sense of their gender with their outer expression of it. Many youth make a social transition where they wear clothes and use pronouns in line with their understood gender identity. Others opt for puberty blockers, an approved procedure supported by experts at The Endocrine Society and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health for kids who want to delay or prevent unwanted physical changes. These are reversible treatments (monthly injections can be halted, or an implant inserted into the upper arm can be removed) that allow parents and children to determine whether hormone treatment or surgery may be something the child wants to choose once they are of legal age in their country. Gender affirmative care doesn’t equal permanent surgeries. It equals developmentally appropriate mental and physical health care provided by a whole team of professions, guided by extensive methodologies that reduces risk of suicide by 70% and improve mental health outcomes, according to Turban et al.
        One recent study shows that transgender and nonbinary youth who reported experiencing discrimination based on their gender identity over something such as using the bathroom were nearly twice as likely to report attempting suicide in the past year compared to those who did not experience gender identity-based discrimination. According to another study published in 2015, a third of all transgender youth have seriously considered suicide and one in five have made a serious attempt.
        There are a lot of challenges that transgender people face, particularly in terms of health and overall wellbeing. This is a result of societal and systemic burdens put onto transgender people. So many transgender people face ongoing discrimination from personal to national levels. There are needs and supports that cisgender people receive that transgender individuals don’t get nearly as regularly and consistently by any means. While the challenges are numerous, this isn’t all there is to transgender existence.
        There are individual and societal risk factors faced by LGBTQ folk, but there are protective factors to be found at every level. What research is showing is that when transgender and other LGBQ youth are given the support of their families and communities, mental health disparities between them and cisgender people begin to decline. As transgender adults live in states that are more affirming of LGBTQ people (states that protecting against housing and employment discrimination, for example, and have higher aggregates of positive public opinion of LGBTQ people, among other measures), are less likely to attempt suicide. This is exciting stuff for vulnerable populations everywhere! Health outcomes can be improved as individual, relational, communal, and societal factors are bolstered.
        For example, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals can create healthier inner dialogues, and improve their self-esteem despite external challenges. Family members and friends may not understand fully, but they can still commit to learning, listening, and supporting the LGBTQ person in their lives. As schools, stores, and organizations use inclusive language, this can make all the difference in the lives of LGBTQ people, knowing that they and their concerns are not invisible to communities in which they inhabit. The religious and cultural background, as well as the political environment LGBTQ people are located in are by and large the places in which they first encounter stigmatization.
        It is in these spheres that societal shifts can take place that protect trans rights everywhere healthcare, housing and detention facilities. These are often the sites of pain, where they learn all sorts of painful ideas about what their sexuality or gender identity means. Within reach of these spheres of life, from the individual to the societal, are potential for harm, but what should encourage us all is their potential for healing, too.

        This is the first in a series of articles about the realities of LGBTQ existence. The next will bring these issues closer to home, as students will speak about their lived experiences as LGBTQ people attending an Adventist institution.