We deserve an inclusive ENDA

THE HUMAN Rights Campaign (HRC) and Democrats in Congress want to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) into law.

The current form of ENDA would protect all lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people from being fired just because they are LGB, with no questions asked. While the law also protects transgender people from being fired just because they are transgender, that comes with a catch--transwomyn and transmen will not be able to use the bathroom that they feel most comfortable in.

To quote the high-ranking and trans-phobic Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, trans people with "one set of genitals would not be able to go to a bathroom for people with another set of genitals."

Frank is the same man who told the people who marched on Washington last year, of which I was a part of, that "the only pressure they (the marchers) will have is on the grass!" He also said: "Concessions had to be made."

Once again, trans people get the short end of the stick, and that is okay in the view of Barney Frank and the HRC!

And just how exactly will employers know whether someone has the "right set" of genitals? Through genital inspections, of course.

If the current form of ENDA goes into law, employers will have the right to basically ask someone to "describe" their genitals and can even request that they show them their genitals. There are so many ways that this is wrong, but the two main ones are: 1) What someone has between their legs is no one's business, unless that person chooses to tell you; and 2) Talk about humiliating! Cisgender people (people whose gender identity conforms to the gender of their bodies at birth) should imagine that for a second.

Imagine an employer asking you to describe your genitals to them? Humiliating, is it not? I know the law doesn't say that in writing, but I don't think that it's a stretch to imagine that instances like that will happen if the current form of ENDA goes into law!

Not only is this form of ENDA humiliating, but it is also dangerous. Image what could happen if a transwomyn walks into a men's bathroom. There is a big chance of them getting verbally harassed, beaten up, killed or sexually assaulted by men in those bathrooms.

Also imagine the humiliation of having to explain why you are in that bathroom. My trans sisters and brothers and I will have to say that we have the "wrong" genitals.

ON A personal level, I feel like this will hurt transwomyn more so than transmen. Transwomyn and transmen will both be hurt if this becomes law, and I am in no way trying to say that transwomyn are more oppressed than transmen or pit us against each other, because that would be what people who hate us want.

However, in some cases, transmen have the advantage as far as passing. For instance, estrogen doesn't change our voices the way testosterone, or "T", as it is known in the transmen community, changes transmen's voices. Granted, T doesn't deepen transmen's voices 100 percent of the time, but there is an extremely good chance it will.

I bet you that more transwomyn than men will be asked to "describe" their genitals.

Barney Frank and the HRC don't care about trans people, but they pretend they do. Frank continued to say that "consistent gender presentation" would also be required in order to sue for wrongful termination. The example he gave of something people can't do is sitting there with "full beard and a dress."

I don't think this a reasonable requirement at all. That requirement is just another way for cisgender people to have an excuse to be ignorant and mean towards people who don't fit into those gender boxes, and have no interest in doing so. That requirement is all about cisgender people not being comfortable with how trans people present ourselves. Talk about judging a book by its cover. Trans people deserve to be respected, because they are human beings!

If the current form ENDA passes, in order for trans people to be able to use the law, they have to jump through hoops. First, they have to prove they are "presenting" their gender "consistently." (How exactly are you suppose to prove that in a court of law?)

And secondly, the part of the law about matching genitals to the "correct" bathroom--anyone else see the loophole in that situation? If a trans person is caught using the "wrong" bathroom just one time, and another person complains, the employers can use that, and they can be off the hook!

Trans people will have to do both of these things, while the law gives cisgender LGB people a "no questions asked" way to sue for discrimination. ENDA isn't trans-inclusive at all! ENDA tries to pay lip service to trans people and maybe has "good intentions," but, in the end, only makes us stand out even more than we already do.

The scary thing is that Barney Frank and the HRC seem to think that this is "good enough" for trans people, and don't see anything wrong with these concessions. Trans people are once again thrown under the bus, because people don't have the guts to fight for us.

People tell me and my trans brothers and sisters that "these things take time" and "your time will come" I ask when will our time come? Ever since the Stonewall Riots, trans people have been fighting for LGB people's rights. I say its time for cisgender LGB people to return the favor!
Lessa Marty, from the Internet