The Rights 5

July 2, 7:57 AMTransgender & Transsexual Issues ExaminerMatt Kailey

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The Rights 5 is a new campaign designed to educate Colorado gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) citizens on five state laws that protect and benefit them.

The campaign, a program of the GLBT Community Center of Colorado (The Center), enlists five superheroes to promote knowledge and understanding of these five laws. But how do these laws help trans people? Let’s take a look:

1. Employment Non-Discrimination (ENDA): Colorado’s ENDA includes transgender protections. Transgender status cannot be considered in any employment-related decisions. Historically, many trans people have been fired or forced into a demotion when they went through a gender transition on the job. This law protects against that, as well as harassment (such as intentionally using the wrong pronoun) and other things.

2. Housing and Public Accommodations: Trans people must be treated equally by all facilities offering services to the public, including restaurants, hotels, stores, hospitals, health clubs, and many more. They are also protected from discrimination by landlords, real estate agents, and other agencies working in the housing arena. In the past, some trans people have lost apartments, been refused housing loans, or been denied public services simply because they are trans.

An argument against this law has been that grown men will be able to enter elementary schools and use the girls’ restroom — a ridiculous argument that has no bearing in reality and nothing to do with trans people. If a grown man is hanging around an elementary school and isn’t a parent or an employee, call the police. Trans people don’t hang around elementary schools — the experience wasn’t that great the first time around. But if we have kids there, you might see us at a PTA meeting or parent/teacher conference, which tend to scare away even the hardiest of people.

3. Hate Crimes: We’ve already seen how this law relates to trans people. Angie Zapata’s murderer, Allen Andrade, was found guilty of a hate crime in her killing. But hate crimes are not just murder, and they’re not always related to violence. Any threat or harassment, such as property damage, can be deemed a hate crime if it is directed toward a person because of sexual orientation or transgender status.

4. Second-Parent Adoptions: This is important for trans people who are unable to marry but want to adopt their partner’s children to provide extra protections for the children. And many trans people also have children themselves, but if they cannot marry the person they love, that person can become a legal second parent to those children.

5. Designated Beneficiaries: This law went into effect on July 1 and allows two unrelated adults to designate legal rights and protections to each other. It is important for trans people who cannot marry their partner or for those who have been rejected family and loved ones due to their gender transition, because it allows them to designate another adult to make decisions for them during illness or after death, to care for them as necessary, and to inherit their property after their death.

To find out more about these five laws and how they protect the GLBT community, go to www.therightsfive.com.