Policy Brief

The Declaration of Independence clearly states that all people are created equal, that they have certain inalienable, and that it is the responsibility of government to ensure these rights are acted upon appropriately. Inalienable human rights cannot be given or taken away, yet so many people are still forced to fight for access to these rights. Not only does this practice change the rights to privileges, but it deems those who do not have them as less than human. This country has a history of treating certain groups of people as less than human, and it is still grappling with the many horrors associated with that past. It is imperative that society, as a whole, realize that this is still happening. One such group currently facing this problem is the transgender community.

As a concept, “human rights” are defined as rights that are believed to belong justifiably to every person. However, transgender individuals are not afforded the same rights as cisgender (non-transgender) individuals, despite the fact that they are human beings. As a society, we need to work together to ensure that each person is treated fairly and equitably; as it stands now, while many oppressed groups still do not have equal rights, the rights they do have are being stripped away. Transgender individuals are only at the beginning of their fight for justice; we cannot allow this progress to be reversed. Our goal is to advocate for equity for transgender people, which ultimately involves bringing about systemic shifts in cultural attitudes and legal rights.

Transgender individuals do not “choose” their gender; rather, they are choosing to live as their true gender. Recognizing their right to affirm their existence should not be difficult, and yet there is no federal non-discrimination legislation that explicitly protects transgender people from discrimination. The transgender community is a group of individuals just like everyone else, and they would like to be accepted as such, in addition to being afforded the same privileges as cisgender people. The Obama Administration made many changes to help the transgender community come closer to achieving equity, but most of those changes have been overturned by the Trump Administration. Their lack of respect for transgender rights demonstrates a regression in government and in our society as a whole.

As a group, we will be advocating for non-discrimination by focusing on transgender relationships (adoption, marriage and relationship recognition), health care, and identification documents, as well as employment, housing, and personal safety. When the United States was scored on these policy areas, the lowest scores were found to be in health and identity rights, and there is no state that scored well across all the policy areas. Twenty-eight states out of fifty scored low or even negative in all categories. The Employment and Non-Discrimination Act has attempted to include protections for trans and gender non-conforming people and, although several proposals have been made, none have ever been passed into law.

The transgender community must continue to fight for basic and equal rights and respect as people. As a society, we need to be aware of the regression of policy and the unfair treatment of transgender people. As social workers, it is our responsibility to enhance the well-being and help meet the basic needs of all human beings, with special attention to the needs and empowerment of those who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. Transgender individuals are, right now, vulnerable and oppressed, but our hope is that equity will be achieved, and the transgender community will be just another group of human beings. Until that time, we will continue advocating for transgender rights, and we invite you to join us.