Is history repeating itself? – Does Government Work?

Although the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th amendments were passed to ensure the freedom of African Americans, widespread racist attitudes allowed the Courts and States to undo any guaranteed liberties. Through the Slaughterhouse cases, the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th amendments and their clauses were deemed virtually meaningless. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that legal and political challenges to segregation and the civil rights movement of the 1960’s eventually pushed the Supreme Court, the president, Congress, and the American people to take seriously the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The United States is seeing a similar pattern today in the justices of the transgender community. They are facing widespread discrimination and their rights vary considerably by jurisdiction. Although the Fourteenth Amendment provides equal protection under the law for all, there is no federal law designating transgender as a protected class, or specifically requiring equal treatment for transgender people. The Obama Administration worked hard to provide laws and protection for the transgender community. In 2009, former President Obama signed a federal hate-crimes law that covers crimes motivated by anti-transgender bias. In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that discrimination based on transgender status is sex discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act. In 2016, the U.S. military lifted its ban on transgender service members and the Obama administration advised public schools that transgender students should be allowed to use restrooms and locker rooms of their choice.

Regardless of these policies passed, the discrimination is still an issue. While Obama signed the federal hate-crimes law, at least 25 transgender people were killed in the U.S. in 2017. According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, nearly 80% of trans people reported that they were harassed while 35% said that they were physically assaulted at school. In the professional world, the Out & Equal Workplace Advocates’ 2017 report states that the transgender unemployment rate is three times higher than the national average. The same report also adds that there’s no state-level gender identity protection in 30 of the 50 U.S states. This means transgender employees can be fired just because of their gender identity.

Today, the transgender community is facing a lot of its discrimination from the Trump Administration, who is trying to reverse the polices of the Obama Administration, just like the Slaughterhouse Cases did with the Civil War amendments. The most prominent issue seems to be transgender involvement in the military. On July 26^th, 2017, President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military. In October, a federal judge in Washington temporarily blocked the move and said the ban was probably unconstitutional. As a result, Mr. Trump directed the Pentagon to find a way to carry out a version of the ban. In February, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis provided a recommendation and said that there were “substantial risks” related to transgender people who serve in the military and only some should be allowed to serve. In late March, Trump announced a policy that states, “Transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition are disqualified from the military service,” unless the Pentagon grants an exception. It will now rest in the hands of the court to decide the fate of the troops.

On top of the military ban, 10 states have announced a flurry of bills that would make life tougher for the transgender people, especially students who try to use campus restrooms that match their gender identity. In early February, the U.S. Department of Education confirmed that it will no longer investigate civil rights complaints from transgender students who say they were barred from using restrooms that align with their gender identity. This was no surprise after Trump rescinded the Obama Administrations directive that discrimination against transgender students on the basis of gender identity violates Title IX. Liz Hill, Education Department Press Secretary, said “in the case of bathrooms, however, longstanding regulations provide that separating facilities on the basis of sex is not a form of discrimination prohibited by Title IX”. Are we seeing history repeating itself? In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Court said that states could separate the races on intrastate railways if they provided “equal” facilities. This ruling gave the doctrine of “separate but equal” full constitutional status. Although sex and race are two different issues, they both are at risk of being denied basic civil liberties.

How is the transgender community supposed to move forward if the legislation regarding their rights and freedom changes from president to president? Or does the legislation even make a difference considering the discrimination was still prominent even after Obama enacted his policies? Should we solely base change off of time? The 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th amendments were passed in 1865-1870 but the United States didn’t see true justice until 100 years later with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nomanazish/2018/02/26/trans-rights-americans-still-divided-on-gender-identity/#34d820ef1d8f

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/opinion/trump-transgender-military-ban.html

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-transgender-rights-20180219-story.html

Isabella Brown says:

April 22, 2018 at 4:57 pm

Sophia,

You bring up alarming facts about the state of our country’s treatment of transgender people. Much like minority group that have come before them, they are in a battle for their rights, and legislation has been slow to guarantee them protection. It is frustrating to see that during the Obama Administration they gained some progress, but that during the Trump Administration we have basically seen a lot of those gains undone. I just read a New York Times Article that discusses that Trump intends to roll back a rule implemented by Obama that prevents any doctors, insurers, or hospitals from discriminating against transgender people. I think the most that citizens can do for now for the transgender community is to raise awareness about their plea and channel support to their cause. Hopefully the backlash to these roll backs will move citizens to be sympathetic to their cause.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/21/us/politics/trump-transgender-health-care.html

Virginia Myers says:

April 22, 2018 at 10:43 pm

Dear Sophia,

Thank you for your thoughtful post. You bring up a number of important points about the transgender community. First, I think the changes Trump administration has made over gay rights is a step backward for civil rights and our American democracy. The United States prides itself on being inclusive and striving for equality and human rights for all individuals. I think President Trump is regressing the community and the nation back to the hatred of the white nationalism of baby boomers when white males were the dominant group. Trump making these sort of changes to legislation is a form of symbolic violence because it doesn’t help further policy, it only creates animosity and further divides people of different backgrounds, whether that be race or gender identity.

As you brought up, I don’t think that the transgender community should have to react to their rights and freedoms changing from president to president. Instead, I think we should voice our public opinion around a quote Eleanor Roosevelt said in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and elect a president that embodies this: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

Jacob Weis says:

April 25, 2018 at 11:06 am

You raise some excellent points that are very relevant in today society. LGBTQ seems to be the talk of our generation and is something that must not be ignored. People around the world face hate crimes, inequality, abuse, and even death because of who they love, how they appear, or who they are. Approximately 7 percent of Americans classify themselves as either lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning. And out of that 7 percent only 0.3 are reported to be transgender. With this in mind it makes me wonder why people make such a huge deal about the situation. I understand how bathrooms can become a controversial topic but besides that why does it matter if transgenders are in the military?