Yes, in November 2022, “a record number of 14 openly trans and non-binary people have been elected to state legislatures across the US today fighting for their very existence”, emphasizes the Boston Globe.
The trans community in the United States has indeed become the latest bogeyman. of the radical right, which seeks by all means to legislate to prevent gender transitions, especially among young people; the use of neutral pronouns; issuing new identity papers; or the participation of trans people in the sports teams of their choice”.
Also, being an MP when you are trans or non-binary in the United States is a path full of pitfalls. Elected in November, Zooey Zephyr is the first transgender member of the Montana legislature and, like other gender pioneers, she considers him a “it is important to be able to carry the voice of the trans community and to be able to bear witness to what life is like for trans people in a hostile environment”.
Being elected also allows “to give more weight to this voice”, she believes. But as soon as she took office, she had to step up to try to oppose a bill banning medical transition support for minors in Montana.
“Looking forward”
Leigh Finke, the very first transgender elected representative to sit in Minnesota’s parliament, began by fighting against the high cost of medical treatment, a key issue for the transgender community, whose members are often on treatment for years. For her :
“Coming to work in the Parliament Building is in itself a radical act of power transformation. Just walking the halls makes a difference. It is very important and motivating for me.”
Brianna Titone was elected MP in Colorado, in a Democratic majority Parliament, which allows her to hope to pass during her mandate a protection law for people wishing to begin a gender transition. A law that would come “not only helping trans people in Colorado, but also transgender people in neighboring states that have passed transphobic laws”.
But even in the best situations, coming to sit in a local parliament can be difficult, notes the Boston daily. Many trans elected officials emphasize that they are still entitled to “stares from some of their colleagues or on the contrary that others simply avoid looking at them. They keep hearing derogatory comments and being misgendered by fellow elected officials.”
“Feeling of guilt”
In Oklahoma, Mauree Turner, the very first officially non-binary person to be elected to a local parliament, says she was hesitant to run for a second term in 2022 because of all the criticism and abuse she received. during his first term.
“I had to fight with a sense of guilt, explain-t-iel I wondered if all the proposed anti-trans, homophobic and anti-LGBTQI+ laws were being proposed precisely because I was visible and sat in parliament. And to add:
“I even wondered if to better protect my community I would not do better to throw in the towel and no longer seek to be elected.”
But just before the deadline to announce his candidacy, he decided to stand again in front of the voters, underlines the Boston Globe : “His mission to build a better Oklahoma for trans and non-binary people was not over.”
