Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Report: Canvassers can change voters' minds on trans issues
by Gretchen Rachel Hammond
2016-04-13

This article shared 1473 times since Wed Apr 13, 2016
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Some of the North Carolina lawmakers who rushed through and passed the notorious HB2 anti-transgender legislation last month have argued they were simply responding to the fears of their constituents that allowing transgender people the right to use the bathroom with which they identify will enable sexual predators to invade the privacy of and attack women and children.

Although there have been no cases, documented or otherwise, from which to base those fears with actual facts, volunteer canvassers from the Los Angeles LGBT Center and SAVE, a South Florida-based LGBT nonprofit, who were knocking on doors in traditionally conservative Miami neighborhoods during the summer of last year discovered how prevalent dangerous misconceptions about transgender people are.

A volunteer named Steven had been asking voters what they thought about a county human rights ordinance which included transgender individuals and whether or not it should be repealed.

"I wouldn't want that around children. People can pretend and go after our kids," one resident told him. "That's something to think about. It would probably change a lot of people's minds."

Steven went on to tell the resident about his best friend and showed her a picture of him on his iPhone.

"He's definitely a boy," Steven explained candidly. "He just wanted his body to reflect that."

He added that after his friend received Gender Confirmation Surgery, the negative reaction he received from some people "really hurt him."

"I didn't think about it like that," the resident replied. "Like if I was in his position."

The conversation continued and the resident's concern about restrooms was raised. Steven noted that he and his friend sometimes use public facilities together. "We go in, do our business, wash our hands and leave," he said. "It didn't change anything."

"I don't see a problem with that," the resident said after a moment. "He should be able to."

According to the video released by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, it had taken Steven 22 minutes to change her mind.

He wasn't the only one.

Findings from researchers based at Stanford University and the University of California Berkeley released in an April 7 edition of the peer-reviewed Science journal found that volunteer canvassers trained in a deep-canvass approach like Steven's—one developed by the Los Angeles LGBT Center—were able to achieve a "significant reduction in anti-transgender prejudice among approximately one in 10 voters."

The press release went on to state that "there was a reduction of anti-transgender prejudice comparable to the decline of prejudice against gay and lesbian people that took place over more than a decade, between 1998 and 2012."

Laura Gardiner is the national mentoring coordinator at the Leadership LAB of the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

"Through face-to-face canvassing conversations, we can reduce prejudice against transgender people in a lasting way," she told Windy City Times. "The heart of them has really been the same throughout the last several years. When we engage in a personal conversation with voters, we can make a connection and lastingly reduce prejudice."

According to Gardiner, the volunteer canvassers included both transgender individuals and cisgender allies from multiple social backgrounds. The kind of deep-canvassing in which they engaged is not a tactic that many imagine experiencing during an election season.

"In a campaign context, they would be all of one or two minutes," she said. "It's a one-way conversation in which you're delivering specific talking points and dropping off a flier."

The more intimate and connected approach to fielding people about transgender issues grew out of a stratagem developed by Leadership LAB Director David Fleischer—one first used in early 2009. The Los Angeles LGBT Center went on to talk with voters on the issues such as same sex marriage.

"For us, the Supreme Court decision was an opportunity to focus on something new," Gardiner said. "Because transgender and gender nonconforming people are the most politically targeted groups in the LGBT community, we feel strongly that this is absolutely the most important issue that we can work on. We need to be able to find a way to reduce the prejudice fueling all these political attacks that are spreading around the country like wildfire."

The National Center for Transgender Equality ( NCTE ) lists 19 states across the United States with anti-transgender legislation currently being considered. They include House Bill 4474 in Illinois which would restrict students to using the restrooms of their sex assigned at birth.

No matter what the state, each bill's sponsors and supporters are attempting to perpetuate terror of transgender people using dehumanizing language that ranges from labeling them as "deeply disturbed" to "criminal perversions."

"We found that our conversations not only helped a voter not be as susceptible to those fear tactics but, in a ten-minute conversation, were able to make over a decade's worth of progress," Gardinar said. "The opposition is taking advantage of voters who don't understand what it means to be transgender."

"We can all relate to the feeling of being judged," Steven told the resident during the study. He asked her if she could ever remember such a moment.

"A couple of years ago when I moved to L.A.," she replied. "I got a lot of bad vibes here and there. They make you feel like you are alone."

For more information about the Los Angeles LGBT Center, visit: www.lalgbtcenter.org . For more information about SAVE, visit: http://www.save.lgbt.


This article shared 1473 times since Wed Apr 13, 2016
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Lambda Legal Launches "Speak OUT" awareness campaign uplifting trans, nonbinary voices 2024-03-28
--From a press release. VIDEO BELOW - (NEW YORK, NY — March 28, 2024) In advance of Transgender Day of Visibility, Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest and largest legal nonprofit working to achieve full equal rights for LGBTQ people and everyone living with ...


Gay News

Nex Benedict's autopsy report released 2024-03-27
- The full autopsy report for Nex Benedict (he/they)—a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous student from Oklahoma's Owasso High School who died in February a day after a school fight—has been released. The Oklahoma Office of the Chie ...


Gay News

An interstate trans healthcare crisis: Illinois prepares for influx of people seeking gender-affirming care 2024-03-26
- With hard-won rights, such as access to hormone replacement therapy or permission to use one's chosen pronouns in school, breaking down in states across the country, trans residents of all ages are left with a choice: ...


Gay News

No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal 2024-03-22
- In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...


Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97 2024-03-22
- series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Va. marriage bill, AARP, online counseling, Idaho items, late activist 2024-03-21
- Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed bills protecting same-sex marriages at a state level, surprising some, WRIC reported. The bills—passed out of both chambers along mostly party lines—will require clerks ...


Gay News

Almost 8% of U.S. residents identify as LGBTQ+ 2024-03-16
- The proportion of U.S. adults identifying as LGBTQ+ continues to increase. LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as LGBTQ+, according to the newest Gallup poll results that ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes 2024-03-15
- Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools 2024-03-15
- In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies 2024-03-15
- Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SPORTS Red Stars prepare to kick off NWSL season against Utah Royals 2024-03-15
- It's been a busy winter for the Red Stars, and it's time to put their work to the test. Following a last place finish in the 2023 NWSL season, Chicago has had an active offseason transforming ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece 2024-03-14
- Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...


Gay News

Howard Brown experts discuss advocacy and allyship for Chicago's trans community 2024-03-14
By Alec Karam - Howard Brown Health's Trans & Gender Diverse People's Rights & Patient Care panel convened March 12 to discuss both resources for—and opportunities to provide allyship to—the city's trans and gender diverse communities. The event hos ...


Gay News

UPDATE: Nex Benedict's death ruled a suicide; family responds 2024-03-13
- A medical examiner's report concluded that the cause of death of Oklahoma student Nex Benedict (he/they) was suicide, media reports confirmed. Benedict—a 16-year-old transgender student—died Feb. 8, a day after ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.