Last year in North Carolina, the city of Charlotte passed Ordinance No. 7056. This ordinance made amendments to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinances to include marital status, sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity to the list of protected characteristics in the existing nondiscrimination code.
The amendments extended these groups’ discrimination protections in public accommodations such as businesses, restrooms and vehicles for hire.
When the North Carolina state legislature passed HB 2 overruling the Charlotte city ordinance, they faced national backlash, and ultimately, Republican Gov. Pat McCrory lost re-election as a direct result. Watching this play out was not only unpleasant, it showed what happens to public officials when they decide to stand on the wrong side of history.
As student body president of Fort Lewis College, my No. 1 priority is representing the needs of our students. Unfortunately, we live in a society where those needs include protection from discrimination, especially for my peers who identify as members of the LGBT+ community.
When I read the article, “Did that just happen?: One example of transgender harassment in Durango” (DGO, Feb. 22), my heart sank. The article was a story of a transgender woman (Drew) being further marginalized by an establishment within our hometown.
It is horrifying to me to imagine that some of my peers from FLC, who serve as a vital sector of the Durango economy, may go downtown and face discrimination, bigotry and hatred.
It is even more disturbing to think that currently we are not doing enough to prevent these incidents from happening.
Fortunately, this example of discrimination is one that has been publicized, however, I know it is far more common for the shame and trauma discrimination creates to cause these incidents to go unreported.
We must as a community do two things.
First, we must thank Drew for her courage to stand up to and publicize hatred and discrimination.
Second, we must review city ordinances to identify if protections exist to prevent this type of discrimination. If they don’t, we must create them and take action against those who actively discriminate.
Connor Cafferty, President, Associated Students of Fort Lewis College
Durango
