Christian Views on Gender Identity

The following article and video is about Pope Francis’ views on gender identity.  He believes that teaching about gender identity in schools is wrong since it gives children the impression that they can choose whatever gender they want to be.  He further explains that he voluntarily spends time with transgender people in order to try to “lead them closer to God.”

Many people within the Christian community believe that it is unnatural for anyone to identify as a different gender than the one assigned at birth.  The following link needs to be made well aware so that people understand the difficulties that many individuals face due to their religion and gender identity.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/02/world/pope-transgender-comments/

States Laws Versus the Federal Government: A Refutation

Discrimination based on gender identity is not prohibited under federal law at this time, but passing such a law is the only way that transgender individuals can truly achieve equality. While there are legislative efforts being made to make discrimination based on gender identification illegal, as of right now protection against gender identity discrimination is up to each individual state. Some states in the United States are enraged about the Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage and are continually upset about the protections being made for LGBTQ people.

According to the Civil Rights Act, the federal government has found that discriminating against transgender employees is a form of sex discrimination and is prohibited. This type of discrimination has only been outlawed in one-third of the 50 states, meaning that there are laws protecting those in the LGBTQ community from receiving differential treatment.

Many believe that the federal government should not be in control over whether or not states should have to enforce protections against the LGBTQ community. On April 11, four North Carolina House Republicans filed a bill to restore the state constitution ban on same-sex marriage. Republican lawmakers in North Carolina explained that they wanted to stop the newly approved ordinance, which would prohibit discrimination in public accommodations based on someone’s gender or sexual identity, from taking effect.

Another bill that North Carolina passed is the House Bill 2, which required citizens to use facilities that went along with their biological sex as stated on their birth certificate. North Carolina and Texas are just two of the many states that believe that state governments should be allowed to take action against LGBTQ people and not protect them from discrimination.

Texas, being extremely conservative and having a majority Christian population, recently unveiled the Senate Bill 6. The policies set by this bill requires for people to use the room designated to the gender they were biologically given for bathrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, showers, and other public places.

I disagree that state governments should be allowed to make and pass laws that regulate gender identity and equality. Policies need to be enforced by the federal government to ensure that all people, no matter what gender they identify as, have equal rights and protections. These laws are thinly veiled attempts to allow prejudice and are created based on the false beliefs. These states say that the law will provide greater safety for non-transgender people, but the facts do not bear this out and actually indicate that these restrictions lead to greater danger to transgender individuals with no benefit to non-transgender people.  The states also seek to justify their position by claiming that they are protecting the rights of non-transgender people to privacy and to respect, but before the Civil Rights error they used similar language to promote segregation.

Racial prejudice is not right and neither is gender identity prejudice. It took federal legislation to ensure equal rights in the 1960’s and it requires federal legislation now to ensure that all Americans including those in the LGBTQ community are guaranteed their rights.

Discrimination around the United States

This is a map that shows which states in the United States have laws that prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.  As shown, the majority of the states have no laws to protect their workers, which has made many individuals afraid to come out as gay or transgender at work.  Those who have come out continue to fear going to work.

Discrimination Against LGBTQ In Most States

The video below explains how although same sex marriage is legal in all 50 states, it is still currently legal for an employer to fire its worker based on their gender identity.

http://www.vox.com/2015/4/22/8465027

Even though many states are working towards equality for all, most civil rights laws do not protect LGBTQ people from discrimination.  Those within this community are often denied jobs, housing, and service in restaurants or other areas of the general public.

There are way too many instances of people being scared to be open about their gender identity in their place of work because they are scared of being fired and for their physical safety.

Against Gender Identity in Schools: A Refutation

Gender identity has become a topic of great debate in recent time. A controversial issue appearing in many school districts across the U.S. is whether or not to include gender identity education in curriculum. While many schools are making changes to their policies to accommodate the progressiveness of gender identity in our society, the schools often face opposition to any changes they try to make. The main group that is resisting the new accommodations that schools are trying to implement is parents with children in the school districts.

A recent article on WashingtonTimes.com, called, “ Parents Outraged over Fairfax ‘Gender Identity’ Policy” reports on an attempted block on a public school board’s inclusion of gender identity in its nondiscrimination policy. The Fairfax County Public School Board created this new provision to allow the transgender student and staff members to be considered a protected class. A main argument against the policy changes is that parents don’t have ample time to understand the repercussions of the policy change. Board members are pushing to have the policy change postponed.

I disagree that the policy change needs to be postponed because harassment and discrimination of transgender people is a serious issue. Policy changes need to be made immediately to ensure that these people feel safe and protected in learning environments.

Another argument is that taxpayers would bear the costs of any changes that needed to be made once the policy is put in place such as building new gender-neutral bathrooms for school buildings.

However, the school district is public so it’s funded with public taxpayer money. The use of this money for gender-neutral bathrooms is completely justified because it’s at the benefit of the public, specifically those who do not identify with the gender they were given at birth. The article argues the policy will hurt the majority of the students who do not feel comfortable with being in a bathroom with a person with gender identity issues. However right now, students with these issues have don’t have a place to use the restroom without fear of discrimination. In my opinion, this policy change is necessary to ensure that children with gender identity issues do not feel discriminated against in public school.

An Affirmative View on Gender Identity in Schools

When most people think of gender, they usually think of two broad categories: male and female. Recently, people have been recognizing that gender is not binary and that it falls on a continuum, rather than being completely one or the other.Assuming that boys and girls identify with the gender they were assigned at birth goes against the research that has proved there is a range between masculinity and femininity. When children are forced to live by a gender that does not match their identity, many become depressed and have a harder time focusing and learning in school. Children may have a harder time dealing with their gender identity in schools because of the schools’ bathroom policies, dress code, preferred pronouns, and activities that separate members of the different sex.
Schools need to provide a safe and nurturing environment for children to gain academic achievements and develop social skills. Educators need to concentrate on creating this environment starting at a young age because feelings of inconsistent biological and psychological gender identity have been beginning to form at younger and younger ages. Gender impacts a child’s experience at school across every grade and influences how the rest of their academic and social career will continue

In 2017, Washington public schools will begin to implement a gender identity curriculum in all grades beginning with kindergarten. Children as young as five years old will begin to learn about gender expression including the differences between gender and sexual identity as well as the traits that are typically associated with each gender.

In order for schools to respect children’s gender identification, they must honor and build a strong sense of community and acceptance that allows students to feel comfortable sharing what they would like to be called, their preferred pronouns, and choice of restroom. If a student does not feel comfortable using either the men’s or women’s bathroom, the school should set up a gender neutral bathroom so that all students can feel comfortable and have their desired privacy. Another important action for schools to take is to have a dress code that does not limit what each student must wear according to their biological gender.

In order for children to feel completely safe in an environment that caters to their needs, schools should follow these actions, which will allow for the better psychological and physical well being of all students.

Daniela Rietti

My name is Daniela Rietti, and I am currently a sophomore public relations major at the University of Maryland, College Park. I grew up in Westchester, New York, and in high school many of the kids in my grade were in the LGBTQ community. Since my town is very small, everyone in the school knew who these people were, and sometimes would make comments or judge them because of it.

I wanted to write about the topic of gender identity in my group’s blog posts because I feel that many individuals around the world do not completely understand what it means to be a transgender man or woman. Nearly one million people in the United States identify as transgender, but often people assume that being transgender means that a person is gay, suffers from mental disabilities, or hates their bodies.

Since gender identity has become a highly conversed topic, I feel that discussing and debunking the myths associated with it is extremely necessary in order for the future of society to become more widely accepted and understood.