Everyone is always talking about their rights, whether their right to something, or their rights at stake. What about our ability to perform our civic duties and responsibilities?
I’m not afraid of losing my rights if Trump replaces RBG’s open vacancy, because I underwent my sex change and corrected all my legal paperwork. But for those in same sex relationships, they have all kinds of shit at stake. Losing their jobs to pay the bills,, losing their housing, being unable to add their partner to their mortgage, the bureaucracy to see one another in the hospital, parent rights and duties, being able to productive members of society. The ability and duty to vote. Being called for jury duty. Joining the military. Planning families responsibly, to minimize unwanted children. Access to affordable, comprehensive healthcare.
Voting is not just a right, but the most important civic duty—if we’re unable to vote, we lose our ability to vote into, and out of, power people who would or won’t protect all the people.
You have a duty to work, to provide for yourself and family—and to pay taxes. If we can’t find a job without fear of being dismissed because we’re LGBT, we can’t pay our taxes, and thus unnecessarily live off welfare, not something the average taxpayer wants to think about.
If we don’t have access to affordable housing, we’re forced into homeless shelters or motels. Our homeless shelters are already overburdened thanks to the recession (if not already a depression); they can’t afford having us add to their numbers if landlords are able to turn us away.
Hospitals are overburdened because people without healthcare just go straight to the ER or urgency care because they can’t afford a trip to the doctor for minor health issues. If we can’t access basic healthcare, we further overwhelm the hospitals. This especially will stretch thin overburdened rural hospitals, as the ACA cut their funding because all of us were supposed to have healthcare—and Republicans made sure that didn’t happen.
No access to family planning clinics will return women back to the dark days of to take time off from work to travel long distances to get safe abortions or find someone to give them birth control. Time off they can’t afford. Meaning they may lose their jobs, and thus end up on unemployment, raising any unplanned kids.
I have lived as man long enough that my personal liberties are no longer at stake. However, for my transsexual brothers and sisters who are still working on their sex changes, for my LGB brothers and sisters in same-sex relationships, theirs are still under threat.. I’m demanding that these bigots stop interfering with their duties to be proactive, productive members of society.
I’m sure if we change the discussion from one about our rights to one about our duties, we’d gain far more allies, and our enemies will lose their fire power.
