WHEREAS:

In particular, trans people’s rights are a target of the same movement that has sought to undo the rights of people who can become pregnant to make health care decisions about their own bodies; and

WHEREAS:

Insomuch as the Equal Rights Amendment of 1972 has yet to be ratified and written into effect, women and gender minorities are still not protected by a constitutional guarantee of equal treatment under the law regardless of sex; and

WHEREAS:

This threat to individual bodily autonomy removes an important potential litigative barrier against the reemergence of eugenic practices, including but not limited to forced sterilization of individuals who are not neurotypical and others who historically have been deemed genetically inferior; and

WHEREAS:

Other rights for the LGBTQ community like marriage equality could also be in danger if Roe v. Wade is overturned; and

WHEREAS:

Delegates at the AFSCME 42nd International Convention held in 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada, reaffirmed support for the U.S. Supreme Court decision that the right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples; and

WHEREAS:

Delegates at the AFSCME 43rd International Convention held in 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts, affirmed the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming people to have equal access and treatment in employment, education, family law, youth rights, health care, housing, legal and civil rights and public accommodation; and

WHEREAS:

Physical autonomy is integral to a person’s ability to contribute to society and engage in the workplace; and

WHEREAS:

Trans youth and adults are part of all levels of society as workers, parents, partners, activists and so on; and

WHEREAS:

Trans people bring another lens to the workplace, and diversity in the workplace is integral to the healthy functioning of teams and companies; and

WHEREAS:

Trans youth are the target of the right-wing movement in this country that seeks to remove legitimacy of who these youth are and to bar them from full participation in the U.S. public education system.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME reaffirms our support for strengthening the rights, the ability to be treated equally, and fair access in employment, education, family law, youth rights, health care, housing, legal and civil rights and public accommodation for transgender, non-binary and gender nonconforming people; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME supports the expansion of Title IX requirements to all K-12 and higher education students to include transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming students; and 

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

That AFSCME reaffirms its support for the Equality Act and similar legislation to provide civil rights protections for millions of LGBTQ+ Americans.

SUBMITTED BY:
Frederick Yungbluth, Jr., President
Meredith Hickman, Secretary
AFSCME Council 75
Oregon