There Is Room Under The Umbrella

For all of our views, just because we are all trans doesn’t mean we all share the same views. One of the things that I believe that makes us a great country is our diversity.

When it comes to activism diversity is also important. A multi-prong approach is also the best way to bring about change.

New Generation Of Transgender Americans Wants To Change Laws, Not Just Minds
NPR
By Martha Bebinger: Heard on Morning Edition
November 28, 2017

In the kitchen of a small colonial house in Springfield, Mass., Edanry Rivera and Louis Mitchell do-si-do around a coffee maker, handing off the creamer and reaching for a refill.
[…]
"I can't change people who are so deeply rooted in their values," Rivera says. "So the only thing I can do is to focus on policy and legislation. We're always going to have a bias, but we need policy in place to reflect our values now in 2017."
[…]
"So policy's lagging behind," Rivera says. "There's this kind of inertia. Government needs to catch up."

"Yeah," says Mitchell, nodding as he leans back into a leather office chair in the living where he and Rivera are reviewing the poll results.

Mitchell, a United Church of Christ minister, agrees with a lot of what Rivera has been saying, but he wants to make sure she understands why older trans men and women are more focused on individual prejudice.

"We've actually been around to see some policy changes, and we've also seen where the policy changes have not necessarily made all of us safer," says Mitchell, who is African-American.

Both views are valid.

Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.
Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. knew that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would not change the minds of racists but would cause discrimination to go from being overt to covert. It taught people not to use code words that were racist, sexist, or ageist. They didn’t fire you because you are old but because you make the most, it is just a coincidence that you all in your 50’s and 60’s.

Yes, we can pass protections and develop regulations to protect us like the CT Department of Education Guidance on Civil Rights Protections and Supports for Transgender Students but we also need to change the hearts and minds of the people. We need people to speak up when we encounter the heartless.