I've been taking time to sort out my feelings after hearing the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crimes Bill finally passed Congress on Thursday and is awaiting the president's signature on Wednesday.The act expands federal hate crime laws to include crimes where the victims were targeted on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability.
This passage of one of the transgender community's legislative crown jewels has been a long time coming. I've personally done my part by making four trips to Washington DC since 1998 to lobby for both hate crimes and ENDA. There have been legions of trans activists living and deceased that lobbied, wrote letters, faxes and e-mails, told their stories to congress members and staffers, and prayed for this day to finally happen.
I heard about the news from Dawn after returning home from work. As I absorbed the news that it passed, I couldn't help but think about what happened to Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, who the bill was named after.
It also brought up the bitter memories of transpeople in Texas being cut out of a state hate crime bill named for James Byrd, Jr in 1999 and 2001 thanks to the efforts of the Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby (the predecessors to Equality Texas) and its then director Dianne Hardy-Garcia.
She said in a January 1999 Texas Monthly interview, “People from different walks of life come to the Texas Capitol to compromise and try to make it so that all of us can live together. Being part of that is a beautiful thing.”
Yeah, Texas transpeople got compromised right out of that bill twice.
I thought about the 1964 Civil Rights Act when it finally passed and was signed on July 2, 1964 by President Johnson. Yes, the law was forever changed on that day as well, but the violence against my people continued for three more years.And yes, this passage of this bill also comes when we are about to embark next month on another year of TDOR ceremonies. I'm writing a speech right now I'll be delivering for a Long Island, NY event on November 22.
Make no mistake about it, the folks that hate us won't care that a hate crimes law has been passed and signed. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated, "It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important
But the message it does send is that transgender people ARE American citizens who have been violently attacked and murdered just for having the temerity to live their lives and be who they are, and that needs to stop.
It has been a major concern of mine because far too many of the transgender victims of these crimes have been either African descended, Latino/a people or other POC. Our government said in a 68-29 vote in the Senate and a October 8 281-146 House vote that the federal definition of "hate crimes" needed to be expanded to include us.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said, "The answer to hate and bigotry has to be ultimately found in increased respect and tolerance for all our citizens. In the meantime, strengthening our hate crimes legislation to give law enforcement the tools they need is a necessary step."
That necessary step is better late than never.
While this historic change comes too late for the people who have already succumbed to hate violence, this law once it's signed by President Obama will give the Justice Department some new tools to combat it.
This new law will not make the transphobes stop hating us, but what it will do over time is send the message that it's no longer open season on transgender people.I am a transgender citizen of the United States. It is NOT okay for you to kill me because you hate me, and if you do so, you will get punished for it.
It puts us one step closer to the full citizenship we deserve and is our birthright as Americans.
It also puts us one step closer to being included in the 'We The People' preamble to the United States Constitution.