Having recently written of the power of words in a negative way – the use of the word tranny to demean, sexualize, and dehumanize – today it’s time to talk about the positive, transformative power of words, and how they can inspire us to change the way we live our lives.
The President of the United States delivered the state of the union address last week – a job requirement codified by law – but also an opportunity, once a year, to attempt to define the soul of a nation, to appeal to our best natures, to imagine a better society, and to offer hope for our collective futures. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like the current president, or didn’t like the last one – the words the President uses, no matter which political party he belongs to, in speaking both to us, and on our behalf, really matter. And this is what the current President said earlier this week: “As Americans, we respect human dignity….that’s why we condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.”
After the speech, it was pointed out that this was the first use of the word ‘transgender’ in a State of the Union address. The linking of the T word with the L, G, and B words, in a statement about human dignity, is a very big deal indeed for those who know that the laws of our land discriminate against people not just on the basis of sexual preference, but also on the basis of gender identity. That the President, seeking to define America for all of us, would include transgender people, further legitimizes the idea that there is still unfinished business when it comes to civil rights – and that the class of citizens that deserve those rights includes transgender citizens.
The use of the word ‘dignity’ at the start of the President’s statement echoes the use (9 times, 10 if you include ‘indignity’) in Supreme Court Justice Kennedy’s majority ruling that the federal Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional, in 2013. I quote from that ruling: “The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State by it’s marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity”. The word dignity is such a powerful word to own, meaning ‘the state or quality of being worthy of respect’. In agreeing recently to rule this year on whether the right of same sex couples is protected by the 14th amendment right of all citizens to equal protection under the law, the word ‘dignity’ as well as many of the incredible ideas and words embedded in our nation’s founding documents will play a central role.
The high court’s announcement came just a few days before the nation honored the late civil rights leader, Martin Luther King. MLK understood the power of words better than perhaps anyone in the last 100 years – I dare you to read the text of his I Have a Dream speech and not be overcome with emotion. And in that speech, he called upon America to heed the words that our founders wrote, that have inspired this country ever since: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed – ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’.” Indeed, we have not yet lived up to the true meaning of that creed. Not while gay and lesbian people cannot marry in all 50 states and enjoy the full protection of the laws of both their state and their nation. Not while transgender people can be discriminated against in the workplace, in places of public accommodation, in housing, and in medical care.
So much work yet to do, but recently, some powerful words from some powerful places give us inspiration that the fight is going our way, and the world is going to change.
loveandadvocacy 