Sponsored by: Michelle Risher, Stonewall Caucus Approved: 12/02/2018
A RESOLUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON
WHEREAS, the Trump administration’s Evangelical Advisory Board in partnership with the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Alliance Defending Freedom, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and other anti-transgender groups and persons have been enabled by Trump to attack transgender, intersex, and non-binary rights and personhood; and,
WHEREAS, the Trump administration has worked to ban transgender people from serving in the military, and abrogated Obama era protections, including a memo protecting transgender workers, and protections for transgender prisoners; and,
WHEREAS, the National Center for Transgender Equality has identified over 30 major anti-transgender and anti-LGBTQ+ actions implemented or attempted by the Trump administration; and,
WHEREAS, U.S. officials at the United Nations are allegedly pressuring the U.N.’s Third Committee, which focuses on “social, humanitarian and cultural” rights, to revise their human rights documents, and replace “gender” with “sex” in all instances where it occurs; and,
WHEREAS, assigning a female/male binary sex at birth implicitly denies the very existence of intersex, transgender, and non-binary people, that there are over a dozen anomalies of the sex chromosomes and hormones existing outside of an XX/XY binary, complicating determination of sex at birth, and specific health needs: medical, surgical, hormonal, and mental health; and,
WHEREAS, Trump administration efforts to legislate and edit transgender, intersex, and non-binary persons out of existence, is the first step in denying the existence of said persons, leaving them without Constitutional, civil, or human rights, and fair game to violence that far too often ends in death; and,
WHEREAS, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) reports that LGBTQ+ young adults are disproportionately at risk for experiencing distress and abuse, and the Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, reports transgender persons suffering rejection by family and friends, discrimination, victimization, or violence have a significantly higher rate of suicide attempts; and,
WHEREAS, subsequent to the leaking of a Trump administration memo arguing that transgender persons do not exist, calls to the Trans Lifeline, the only suicide hotline for trans people operated by trans people, received four times its average number of calls, and two times the average number of first-time callers contemplating suicide.
WHEREAS, the 2018 Democratic Party of Oregon Platform States that “We believe Oregon’s LGBTQ+ community deserves to live free of bullying, violence, and threat of violence.” (Article 10, Plank 12)
NOW, THEREFORE, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1: The Democratic Party of Oregon re-commits, to legislation protecting and defending the rights, safety, health, welfare, and existence of all transgender, intersex, and non-binary residents of, and visitors to, Oregon; and,
Section 2: No person, church, religion, political organization, legislator(s), business, corporate entity, or private entity has the right to abrogate the rights of transgender, intersex, and non-binary persons or to deny their existence; and,
Section 3: We demand that the elected Democratic legislators take immediate action and turn DPO Resolution 2018-003 Regarding Faith-based Discrimination Against LGBTQ+ Community” into legislation and law, thwarting “religious freedom” attacks on transgender, intersex, and non-binary persons.
