2009 Testimony to the Judicial Committee

An Act Concerning Discrimination HB6452

Honorable chairs, senators and representatives, my name is Diana ________ and I live in ________. I would like to urge you to vote in favor of HB6452 An Act Concerning Discrimination.

Ten years ago, I come out as transgender and attended a support group.
Ten years ago, I never knew anyone that committed suicide nor attempted to commit suicide.
Ten years ago, I never knew anyone who was homeless and begging for a place to stay.
Ten years ago, I never knew anyone who worked the streets.
Ten years ago, I never knew anyone with AIDS.
Ten years ago, I never knew anyone who was fired from work because of who they are.
Ten years ago, I never knew anyone who was thrown out of a store because of who they are.
These are life lesson that I never thought that I would learn. In the support group, I met people who were fired from their jobs and ended up on state assistance. I met people who were harassed when they went to the grocery store. I met people who just wanted to live their lives and support their families. We need to stop this discrimination, and this bill will help to end these injustices.

I do not know if you have seen the movie “Milk” but what struck me while watching the movie, was the argument that the opposition made back in 1978 for Proposition 6, to ban “homosexual teachers from teaching.” It was the same argument made before this Judiciary Committee in 1991 when the gay rights bill was passed. And, it is the same argument that they are making now… “The students will not understand.” Their fears were groundless then and their fears are groundless now.

Thirteen states have passed a gender identity non-discrimination law; gender inclusive non-discrimination laws protect 39% of the U.S. population and teachers transitioning have not been a problem in any of those states. These are not new laws, they have been around for decades The first city to pass a gender Non-Discrimination ordinance was Minneapolis, in 1975. Rhode Island passed their law eight years ago, Maine passed their gender identity law four years ago and Vermont passed their law two years ago. None of these states or municipalities report issues in the implementation of the law.

I have heard it argued that parents do not want their children to know about transsexuals because the parents are uncomfortable talking about lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people. I am uncomfortable about many things that people do, but I do not go around trying band their actions and treat them as second-class citizens. When I was a child, there were many things that my parents taught me, and one thing that they taught me was not to treat people who are different any differently then we treat anyone else. If we prohibit teachers from transitioning, we are teaching children that it is OK to treat people who are different differently. That is a wrong message to send to our children. Instead, we should teach our children to treating everyone with respect just as my father taught me. Please let us teach our children about fairness and equality not about exclusion.

In closing, I would like to read a quote from Frederick Douglass that he made at the International Council of Women in Seneca Falls New York in 1848, Douglas said this about women’s rights,
“When I ran away from slavery, it was for myself; when I advocated emancipation, it was for my people; but when I stood up for the rights of women, self was out of the question, and I found a little nobility in the act.”

Please pass HB6452 An Act Concerning Discrimination and find that nobility in your heart.
Thank you.

It was a very, very long day, but interesting. We had a couple of parents speak about their children, a couple of lawyers, a minister, a child psychologist and a number of trans-people talk. I was there at 8:30 to draw my number for the speaking order and I drew 147! At least not every number was picked, so that there was only about 43 people before me. We each have 3 minutes to speak and if you do the math, it is a little over two hours, not too bad. However, that does not count the government offices who speak first and they get questioned. In addition, the committee meeting before the hearing ran over. Also, some of the people testifying got questioned after their testimony. Anyhow, I didn’t get to testify until 6:00pm.

The big show was when the head of the organization that is our chief opposition testified. He testified about teachers, students and bathrooms and was questioned for a little over a half hour. The child psychologist was questioned for over an hour, the Republicans were asking some stupid questions which she handled well.

It is funny, last week when the hearing for the bill to formalize marriage equality was being held and the Democrats questioned the same person from the opposition, he cried that he was being persecuted. That the co-chairs were punishing for his opposition to the bill. It was plaster all over the news and he call for the co-chairs to be impeached. I wonder if he felt the same way when the Republicans were grilling the child psychologist?