What Are Our Rights?
So much going on in the world today with religious and world leaders bound and determined to rule over what someone does with their own body. And just what gives them the authority to say what I can do with my body, or what you can do with your body? How do they feel as if they have the final say in abortions, gender confirmation surgery, and other extremely personal decisions? Even with topics such as alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana, I’m leaning toward let people do what they do, as long as we don’t infringe upon the rights of others. What are our rights? Well, luckily the Human Rights Campaign has put the Bill of Rights into layman’s terms, meaning something we can all read and understand: “Amendment 1 Congress can’t make any law that:
Congress can’t stop people from having and carrying weapons. Amendment 3 You don’t have to let soldiers live in your house, except if there is a war, and even then Congress needs to pass a law and set the rules. Amendment 4 Nobody can search your body, or your house, or your papers and things, unless they can prove to a judge that they have a good reason for the search. Amendment 5 Except during times of war or if you are in the military:
If you are arrested and charged with a crime:
You also have the right to a jury when it is a civil case (a law case between two people rather than between you and the government). Amendment 8 The government can’t make you pay more than is reasonable in bail or in fines, and the government can’t inflict cruel or unusual punishments (like torture) even if you are convicted of a crime. Amendment 9 Just because these rights are listed in the Constitution doesn’t mean that you don’t have other rights too. Amendment 10 Anything that the Constitution doesn’t say that Congress can do, is left up to the states and to the people.” So, now that we know our rights. We can understand what we should expect for ourselves and from our government. We also have the Declaration of Independence, which is a separate but important document. Written almost ten years earlier than the Constitution, it gives the layout of how our Forefather’s saw this country’s vision. As a place where “All men are created equal” and “Endowed with.. certain inalienable rights..” Honestly, I believe the word “persons” would be better suited here, but I know these times are pre-civil rights era. I will stick with persons for now. Leaving us with the end of the statement “Certain inalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Of course that is limited to not trampling over another person’s rights, but let’s think about this. If it makes a person happy to bang some hair, most would naturally want them to pursue that happiness by encouraging them to go to cosmetology school, learn hair design, or attend barber classes. Perhaps you’re tired of the town you grew up in, have been there all your life and want to move to a brand new city in order to pursue happiness? Would you expect a negative reaction from friends or family? Potentially, but more than likely not, if they thought you would have a better life for doing so. Then why are so many transgender people told we are wrong for pursuing what makes us happy? I am happy to be James, be a father, partner, writer, and an advocate. I am just me; because that’s what makes me happy. Trying to be a gender I didn’t feel comfortable with wasn’t bringing me joy and was holding me back from pursuing happiness for myself. Being a gender I didn’t truly feel fit the inside wasn’t satisfying my life. It’s like having the outside of your house be the original 1930’s design and having the inside be completely remodeled to a 2017 fashion. No one could tell from the outside what’s within, except the ones that live there. Same with transgender people, we know ourselves better than you know us, so let’s leave the decisions we make about our bodies up to us. Same goes for individuals born with a uterus and their reproductive rights. STOP TELLING US WHAT WE CAN AND CAN’T DO WITH OUR BODIES, THEY AREN’T YOURS! When I read over the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, it makes me happy to think the basic fundamentals of a free society are hiding in there somewhere, we just have to make them apply to this century. Now, let’s go on to Liberty, yes I know I am doing them in reverse order. Liberty, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, states that Liberty is: “the quality or state of being free; the power to do as one pleases; freedom from physical restraint; the power of choice.” I like that last one “the power of choice”. If we look at both pursuit of Happiness and Liberty together, we can understand that we, as citizens should enjoy the power to do as we choose to pursue our own individual happiness. Except there are policies and religious laws allowing people to be discriminated against or turned away from businesses, housing, and employment. The essentials to live a life is gainful employment and a home to live in. Unfortunately, it’s not the best case scenario for all individuals. Did you know that 20% of transgender youths will have experienced homelessness? The transgender population as a whole has an overwhelming number of 1 in 5 that have unstable housing (per the Gender Minorities & Homelessness Report: Transgender Population). These numbers are astrological in comparison to the cis-gender population (people whose gender aligns both inside and outside). When I think about the words written in the Constitution, my first thought is we should all be equal, there should be no discrimination. Let us delve into the Fourteenth Amendment for a moment. Constitution.org has a great resource for learning about the Constitution of our country. It states that the Equal Protection Clause should not discriminate. Initially this was racially motivated to say that the races were equal. However, I believe this should extend outward to “all persons”. Meaning, all persons should not be discriminated against. As we are seeing with our current administration in DC, they are gouging holes in our Constitution, solely based on exact wording that isn’t in our Constitution. Which is why discrimination based on sex isn’t okay, but since it doesn’t specifically include the words “gender”, resulting in legal discrimination against who? Transgender people. An easy target, since many religious sects shun us, many of our family members have fallen to the way-side, and we lose friends more often that grandma misplaces her glasses! The Wikipedia entry about the Fourteenth Amendment lists this as the description of the Equal Protection Clause: “The clause, which took effect in 1867, provides that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction, “the equal protection of the laws”. Why is our own government denying it’s citizens equal rights and equal protections? Why are states ripping citizen’s rights and protections away to favor religious organizations? Perhaps because we are different. But different doesn’t equal wrong, or bad. It just means unique. I’m sure we all have traits that set us apart from others, even our relatives. I heard a quote once that said “If everyone in the world was exactly the same, it would be a boring place”. Before I go off on a very long tangent, I should wrap this up. But not before saying this: Think about it: What if the next persons to be discriminated against is people like you? http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/ https://www.livescience.com/4995-declaration-independence-changed-world.html https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/# https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_Liberty_and_the_pursuit_of_Happiness https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xiv https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xiv/the-equal-protection-clause/clause/20 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liberty http://www.nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/in-focus_transgender_sep2014_final.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Protection_Clause
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Authors:James and Katherine are a transgender couple raising two kids. They were southerners when coming to understand themselves as trans. Ultimately it lead to a nearly three year road trip to find home. Now they are re-housed and still focused on outreach in the transgender community! Archives
October 2020
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