Join Cynthia Dames (she/her) (Founding Member and Project Managing Consultant for The NEW Pride Agenda) and Kate Sosin (they/them) (LGBTQ+ Reporter at The 19th, Twitter account here) for a conversation on the systemic factors that have contributed to disparities and inequities that the Transgender community faces and the legislative and cultural actions we must take to affect change.
Main Takeaways:
- Kate (they/them): When we talk about transgender, we’re referring to anyone who does not identify with the gender they are assigned at birth.
- Kate (they/them): Transgender voting rights are a huge issue. The Williams Institute (LGBTQ think tank) estimated that as many as 378 thousand transgender people are at risk of not voting because they don’t have an ID that reflects who they are. As many as 46% of transgender people don’t have an ID that matches both their name and gender ID marker.
- Cynthia (she/her): Regardless of what happens in the national election, I think we need to focus on the state and city legislation and regulation. All politics is really local. There’s a lot you can change on the local level and you can aggregate them to apply pressure.
- Cynthia (she/her): Allies are critical because there’s more of them than there are of us. Pick an area you care about (health, education, housing, employment), and pick a focal point for it (school, work, etc. Dare to complain, be brave, ask questions.
Top Q&A Questions/Resources:
- To what extent does the LGB community help support the trans community?
- Cynthia (she/her): I think historically, the traditional white resourced gay community has not been supportive of the trans community. And some of us want to create a bridge. I will certainly say that the NEW Pride Agenda was formed to address this.
- Do you have any tips for being a better ally for people under 18?
- Kate (they/them): I would say to just listen. A lot of times the most harm kids that can experience is at home when they are not accepted. The world can be awful but if your people love you and affirm you, it’s like walking on air.
Affirming that person and letting them explore is the best thing you can do, even if the world is going to be really mean about it.
- Kate (they/them): I would say to just listen. A lot of times the most harm kids that can experience is at home when they are not accepted. The world can be awful but if your people love you and affirm you, it’s like walking on air.
- Resources:
- NEW Pride Agenda
- Lambda Legal
- Imara Jones, Trans Lash
- Trans lifeline offers microgrants and has a resource page with information on what is necessary in each state to update legal documentation.
Last modified on June 23, 2021
