End discrimination in our systems and laws.

We have a bad habit in this country of discriminating against people for who they are. Many point to the long, winding road of winning over hearts and minds as the solution, but supporting human rights requires an urgency when lives are at stake. We need to have solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community while we collectively repair the failings of the systems and structures that keep them behind.

Discrimination has been a prevailing policy of the current administration, and for decades, even those on the left side of the political spectrum have felt perfectly fine splitting hairs when it comes to equal rights and equal justice under the law. This cowardly approach to policy making has left the door open for states to pass all kinds of discriminatory legislation aimed at putting queer people, and especially queer people of color, in danger. 

The headlines grab onto the big stories while the systemic injustices stay invisible. For every victory fighting back against state anti-trans bathroom bills, there are hundreds of assaults to Title VII protections through discrimination in education, jobs, healthcare, and housing that go unnoticed.

This is why fighting for legislation like the Equality Act is crucial. This kind of thinking provides the framework to strengthen existing civil rights laws to amend them with clear and precise language that unambiguously protects the LGBTQIA+ community. But it goes beyond one bill and one Congress. Allyship in positions of power necessitate the need to constantly reevaluate where inequality may not be as obvious or when attention is turned away from battles thought to be already won.

The thrill of a Supreme Court victory on the side of marginalized people is a victory for everyone, but are only necessary because of our elected leaders inability to update ambiguous language of past laws that remain locked in the wording of the time they were written. The goals need to be focused on finding where laws can be strengthened without relying on the unpredictability of the Federal courts, especially now that we live in a time where the courts have been stacked with political operatives. 

One of Brian’s primary objectives is to dig deep to find active, yet outdated laws and apply the thinking behind the Equality Act to restore them before the language can be used as a weapon to enforce the opposite.

So while the winning of hearts and minds will continue on, we need to make sure that civil rights stay off the ballot and away from judicial casinos and forge ahead through continued activism and careful policy making.