LGBTQ Rights

In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed. This set of laws came about to secure the equality and freedom of Americans regardless of the color of their skin. It came to be only after we, as a country, endured revolutionary activism in the name of this cause. It came after knowing the horrors of oppression and discrimination for hundreds of years. We knew that segregation was wrong, and we changed our society for the better.

Today, America faces a new Civil Rights movement. Ever since the Supreme Court ruled Section 8 of the Defense Of Marriage Act unconstitutional, States across the nation have been moving forward in securing equal rights for LGBT people, particularly in terms of Marriage Law. This is on the heels of repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy in the military, allowing our LGBT men and women at arms to continue serving our country openly and without discrimination. These are glorious achievements, laying the foundation for a brighter and more progressive future in America.

But we mustn’t forget the hardships we have faced as a nation to achieve this, anymore than we should forget the tragedy of slavery and racism. Many Americans, most of them very young, have been living in the shadow of fear and violence from those who consider them lesser. Hate crimes include bullying, murder, harassment, slurs, physical violence, abuse, and a host of other disgusting activities. Countless victims of anti-gay hate crimes have committed suicide. This brutality has to end.

It should come as no surprise that I am Bisexual, and Intersex. My genetic condition renders me biologically neither really male nor female, though I am legally considered male. I reject the gender-binary system, and personally advocate for a non-binary option for legal purposes, such as the one that Germany has. Furthermore, I am Polyamorous, and I feel that to tell consenting adults who they can or cannot marry is a breach of individual rights and freedoms. There can be no freedom until we are equal.

At the college I attend, some Transgender friends of mine and their allies in the Queer-Straight Alliance on campus have been the latest local victims of hate violence against LGBT people. They have had their event flyers torn down and destroyed. They have been called mean and hateful slurs. They have been cornered and threatened. And they have been bullied out of even using bathrooms. Much of this behavior by the bullies is against our school’s policies, and yet nothing has been done about it. Some of it isn’t against policy, but the Student Government’s current administration has made promises to bring these issues to the table and has yet to follow up on those promises. Still, some issues concerning equal rights and protections have not been addressed at our school.

I often hear of how anti-gay the Republican party is, and how pro-gay the Democratic party is, but in my experience, there has been much talk and little action on the part of the Democrats, and little talk and much action on the part of the Republicans. One party says they are in favor of LGBT rights but does not do much to benefit us. The other party promises economic prosperity for everyone but instead tramples on LGBT rights. Neither major party can be trusted to help us be free and equal.

The Libertarian party not only supports the equal rights of LGBT Americans; they also take action to bring us equal rights. The Libertarians have proven, time and again, that they are honest, trustworthy, and believe in Liberty and Justice FOR ALL!

And that is the American way.

By Zachery Hall

“Reprinted with permission by Zachery Hall, Copyright Zachery Hall 2014. Paid for by Bill Wohlsifer for Florida Attorney General, Licensed for use on Wohlsifer4ag.com under Creative Commons and exclusive commercial use, BY-SA (Attribution-ShareAlike). All other users under CC BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial)”