CALL TO (ETHICAL) ACTION: Affirm the rights on trans, non-binary, and intersex people
Carolyn Parker
Call to (Ethical) Action:
The AEU Affirms the Rights of Trans, Non-Binary, and Intersex People
March 31 is International Transgender Day of Visibility. The day celebrates transgender people and provides an opportunity to increase awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as to celebrate their contributions to society.
The American Ethical Union has issued a Statement to affirm its longstanding support for the human rights of Trans, Non-Binary, and Intersex people. The Statement has been posted on the AEU’s website with the continuing list of Statements issued since 1967. The Statement has been posted on Facebook (both the main AEU page and the Ethical Action page) and Twitter and will also be sent to every member of the AEU via email.
Now it’s time for us all to swing into action. Here is a menu of actions that we can each take, as individuals and as Ethical Societies, to amplify this message in our communities. Choose which actions are within the current capacity of your Ethical Society. Each thing that we do adds to the number of people who will receive our message, see the stand we are taking, see our values. This is part of the effort needed to persuade others and to bring about social change. No matter how small our individual effort, together we can make a difference.
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Ethical.Action.List - Please make sure that your Board and/or the Communications Team in your Society are informed about the Statement. (Do not assume that everyone opens their email every day.)
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IIndividually (each of you), not representing your Ethical Culture society:
Share the Statement--and your views and values and experiences--with friends, neighbors, co-workers. Talking (respectfully) about an issue, whether it’s any of the hot buttons that seem to divide us as a nation is one of the best ways to help others understand our point of view (and to understand theirs). Katherine Hayhoe urges us to talk about climate change “with mutual respect and a focus on what genuinely connects us.” It’s a good technique for any issue where the community is not in total agreement.
Share the Statement--and your views and values--with decision makers. And then engage them about the issue.
Call your representatives’ offices--local, state, and federal. Ask what your representatives are doing to protect the rights of trans, non-binary, and intersex people in public and private spheres.
When election campaigns begin (they really don’t ever end), you can ask a question about a candidate’s stance on the what the educational system should do to support trans, non-binary, and intersex students; what support should be given to parents who care for their children who are trans, non-binary, or intersex; how we as a society can include others rather than marginalize them. Refer to the Statement, if you wish, during a candidate forum (or before agreeing to work in their campaign). Just asking such a question brings the issue to their attention (and to the audience as well), and it might even elevate the issue for future action.
Facebook
If you are not on Facebook, skip this step
If you are on Facebook:
Engage with the AEU post and the AEU Ethical Action post. (To engage is to click on one of the little icons that shows your reaction. Like is nice, but any of the others would be more helpful in raising the prominence of AEU on Facebook.)
Share the AEU or the AEU Ethical Action post on your own timeline. (This will expand our reach to include your friends and contacts. Expanding our reach increases the likelihood that more people will receive our message and consider joining our stand.)
Comment on the post(s). You may want to report what your community is doing to the rights of trans, non-binary, and intersex persons. You may want to report that your Ethical Culture society has voted to take the same stand as the AEU. You may even disagree with some element of the Statement. A comment increases the prominence of the post so that it is more likely to show up in the timelines of people who follow the page. (This matters.)
Twitter
If not, skip.
If so, re-tweet and add your own comment.
Your Ethical Culture society:
Take a Stand:
Formally adopt the Statement as your own. (Reframe the Statement so that it comes from your Society [and the AEU]. This may necessitate a vote by your Board or your members.)
Send the Statement to local media (radio, TV, print).
Send the Statement to your local allies (state-level organizations such as PFLAG, ACLU, Equality Texas (etc.), local interfaith organizations, criminal justice organizations, civil/human rights organizations, etc.). NOTE: If you have not already done so, now is a good time to develop an ongoing contact list of allies for this and other issues on which the AEU--and your Society--might take a stand.
Post your Statement on your website or link to the Statement on AEU’s website.
Host Events:
Host a discussion of the issue within your society. Be respectful of differing views.
Host a program or panel discussion of the issue that is open to the public.
Call Your Members to Action:
Issue a Call to Action for all of your Society’s members to engage with the Statement on social media. You may (with caution) want to ask them to engage with decision makers, reminding them that the issue is values, not politics, and that there should be no endorsement (in your Society’s name) of a named or numbered piece of legislation or a candidate. Otherwise: Make some noise!
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (as appropriate):
Share on your society’s timeline, retweet, etc..
NOTE to Ethical.Action.List: You may need to work with your Board and/or the Communications Team in your Society to make this happen. Please notify them of this request to help spread the word and follow up to encourage completion.
What else can we do? (Please respond in this forum.)
Be sure to let us know what you do! This includes any other ethical actions or Society focus on LGBTQIA+ and human rights. (Please respond in this forum.)
Peace and goodwill,