The rights of transgender people to live in safety and dignity have never been respected by the capitalist system, but they are currently facing a renewed and vicious attack by the reactionary forces in control of the U.S. government. It is the responsibility of the working class to fight for its most vulnerable members, as none of us can be liberated until we are ALL liberated. Nothing will be granted to us; our rights must be seized and protected.
Gender is not defined by genitalia. It is the right of all people to define their own gender and gender identity and make their own decisions about their body.
Understanding this, the LGBTQ+ Caucus of Workers World Party demands the recognition and preservation of the following rights for EVERYONE, but especially Black and Latinx transgender, nonbinary and gender-variant people and Indigenous Two-Spirit people who are under attack:
- Employment: Guaranteed employment with a thriving wage, no discrimination in the workplace, full respect for gender identity, the right to a union and the abolition of “at-will employment.”
- Housing: Decommodify and guarantee housing. End discriminatory housing practices and unequal access to shelters and social services.
- Health care: Free, universal health care, including gender-affirming care and surgeries, medication and mental health. Ban all conversion therapy. Make trans-competent reproductive care and fertility preservation counseling available.
- Parental rights: Prohibit anti-transgender discrimination in family court, adoption agencies and the foster care system. Each of these systems must be free and accessible. Recognize the legal rights of transgender families.
- Children: Stop all anti-trans laws, especially the attacks on youth. Support the right of young people to live their gender identity. Protect access to hormone therapy and gender-affirmative counseling for minors. Allow trans youth to compete in sports appropriate to their gender realness. Any attacks on gender-affirming care constitute child abuse.
- Education: Teach LGBTQ2S+ history, especially the historical landmark moments played by the transgender community, and comprehensive sex and gender education. Protect expression of gender identity at school of education workers and students, and prohibit policies that require teachers to out LGBTQ2S+ students to their parents.
- Incarceration: Stop the violence, oppression and targeting of transgender prisoners. Stop misgendering and wrongly assigning prisoners to prisons that don’t align with their gender. Full access to medical care including hormone treatment and all requested corrective surgeries.
- Immigration: Grant transgender people immediate asylum solely on the basis of gender oppression. Abolish ICE, and stop all deportations.
- Identification: Abolish any mandated surgery as a requirement for gender recognition. Allow transgender, nonbinary, Two Spirit and other gender markers, including nondisclosure, to be used in all government documentation.
- Hate crimes: Expand hate crime laws everywhere to include crimes of violence based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
We demand Congress pass the Equality Act now! But we must continue to fight in the streets for all of our rights!