Proposition 12: Trans Pronoun Rights

This question makes me feel a lot of things. For one, it’s the only question on trans rights in this vote compass, and I think that protections for LGBT people should continue to increase until they are as safe and protected in their everyday lives as straight and cis people.

For another, I think respect for the people who live in our midst is extremely important, and one sign of that respect is something as simple as referring to people by the names and pronouns they choose.

You’ll notice, though, that I actually somewhat disagree with the idea of making it illegal to refer to somebody by a gender pronoun that is different from what they would prefer. I’m not sure how well researched this is, but I suspect that most trans people don’t want people who disrespect them and refuse to acknowledge their preferred gender to be charged with a crime.

While immensely disrespectful, this act probably shouldn’t be a crime, and there are already laws in place which do protect trans individuals from discrimination because they feel their gender was mis-assigned at birth.

I would be very curious to hear if transgender people (especially those who have been deliberately and repeatedly misgendered) want criminal prosecution for those who commit these acts.

Summary: I think the phrasing of this question is flawed in trying to advocate for increased protections for the human rights of trans people, because fixing discrimination is simpler than convicting them of crimes for being rude and disrespectful in their speech.

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