Melrose Must Remain Vigilant Despite Progress: Liz DeSelm

The following was submitted by School Committee member Liz DeSelm after the School Committee unanimously endorsed a resolution affirming its defense of transgender equality in Melrose:

We have come so far as a community. From the establishment of the Melrose Human Rights Commission in 1992, to the adoption of the city motto, “One Community Open to All” in 1993, to the municipal election of 1998 when Melrose elected a gay Mayor to 2015 when Melrose elected our first transgender person to any public office, on through to the municipal election of 2017 when Melrose elected our first person of color, a female person of color I might add, to public office, we have come so very far, but we must remain vigilant.

Thanks to the inclusion of gender identity within the City’s non-discrimination ordinance enacted by our Board of Alderman in 2014, transgender people can shop, live, and thrive within our community without fear of being turned away for presenting ourselves with authenticity.

However, these basic human rights are now threatened. When a small but vocal minority within the commonwealth can rally to add a ballot measure that will strip trans people of our rights to public spaces, we must act!

When the United States Secretary of Education rescinded transgender protection guidelines federally, the Superintendent of Melrose Public Schools and the Melrose School Committee reaffirmed all students are welcome and deserving of a educational environment where they can learn, explore and grow without fear of institutional recrimination.

Our work is not done.

I ask you to vote to affirm transgender protections this November. I ask you to affirm our rights, our humanity, by voting Yes on 3. Because trans rights are human rights.

Commonly referred to by a small but vocal minority as the bathroom bill, this ballot measure would repeal the hard won Transgender Public Accommodations Law passed by the Massachusetts legislature in 2016.

When a group of people is denied access to basic services, and access to a public bathroom is among the most basic of services, you reduce that population’s ability to function within society. You do not merely marginalized, but dehumanized.

I’d like to share with you a personal story about bathrooms. When I transitioned at work, and I did not transition until well after I had begun transition in my personal life, I asked management to use the women’s bathroom. I was denied. As an alternative, I was told to use the unisex bathrooms in the lobby of the building, three floors down and at the opposite end of the building.

I am not alone. In a study from 2016 by the National Transgender Center for Equality, 30%, of more than 27,000 self-identified transgender people surveyed, reported being discriminated against at work, 29% lived in poverty with nearly 15% unemployed. These are adults, who like me, chose to live authentically, and yet faced discrimination at work or could not get work due to being transgender.

Nearly one third of those who responded to the survey reported being mistreated within the past year in public spaces: harassed at the grocery store; misgendered intentionally while seeking healthcare; refused access to restrooms at work or in restaurants; passed over for promotion or worse, fired from their job; or unable to secure housing. The list goes on.

I am not naive. I do not believe you can legislate society’s opinions. However, by legislating conduct in public spaces, society will in time grow more tolerant if not outright accepting.

I ask you now to continue this legacy. Vote yes on 3!
Affirm the rights of transgender people.
Affirm the rights of gender non-conforming people.
Affirm our collective humanity.

Because when you dehumanize a population, you shame them into thinking they are not worthy of life. You create an environment of self-loathing, of intolerance, and easy bigotry. You create an environment where suicide and mental health issues abound; 40% of those 27,000 respondents report having attempted suicide at least once; 39% reported major mental health challenges in the previous year.

I am here to tell you I am worthy. Our community is worthy. Transgender people are worthy. Gender non-conforming people are worthy.

Vote yes on 3. Affirm my rights. By doing so, you affirm our common humanity.

Photo of Liz DeSelm addressing Appropriations Committee on Sept. 6 by Mike Carraggi, Patch