The Supreme Court held hearings last week for the cases against Proposition 8, the California state bill banning same-sex marriage, and the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts federal recognition of marriage and its benefits to solely opposite-sex spouses. Protests and lectures demonstrated public support of equal marriage rights, which was also was manifest on Facebook, where at least 2.7 million people used the logo of gay rights activism group Human Rights Campaign in their profile pictures.
But while the fight for marriage equality is an important topic of discussion and wide popular support is an essential factor the Supreme Court must consider in its deliberations, there are issues in addition to marriage equality that must not be left out of any discussion involving the advancement of LGBTQ rights in the United States. We must look beyond what is currently under the spotlight to more pressing issues that one day may also be brought to the national stage.
One of the most distressing of these issues is LGBTQ youth homelessness. According to a 2010 Center for American Progress report, of the country’s 1.6 to 2.8 million homeless youth, between 20 and 40 percent are estimated to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual, compared to the mere 5 to 10 percent of the U.S. youth population believed to be LGBTQ.
A 2012 Williams Institute study found that among these homeless young people, 46 percent “ran away because of family rejection of sexual orientation or gender identity,” while 43 percent said they were “forced out by parents because of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
These examples of shaming and neglect are both saddening and frustrating because of their intensely personal origins and far-reaching consequences. About 1 million people under 18 were kicked or shamed out of their families and homes, are relying on social services, emergency housing and the kindness of strangers and are facing severe disadvantages in educational institutions and the job market, all because of their parents’ inabilities to accept their sexualities. Even if DOMA and Proposition 8 are struck down by the Supreme Court, homeless LGBTQ youths may never get the chance to find and marry people they love. This issue and any possible solutions must be further discussed.
Another LGBTQ rights issue that deserves more on-campus discussion is the perilous bureaucratic process transsexual individuals must endure in order to gain legal recognition of their correct sexes. In most states, a post-operative transsexual citizen must present a court order, have his or her name changed and/or undergo sexual reassignment surgery before he or she will be allowed to alter his or her birth certificate to reflect the correct sex. In more conservative states, discrimination can slow down or entirely halt this process, sometimes resulting in transsexual individuals being denied basic legal rights.
In the 1999 Texas case Littleton v. Prange, the post-operative male-to-female transsexual plaintiff attempted to claim her rights as a widow — but the judge ultimately nullified her marriage because she was legally considered male under state law and same-sex marriage was not legal in Texas. This not only invalidated her marriage license but also denied her the rights to inherit any of her husband’s property or to receive any sort of state support for widows. Such systemic aggression toward transsexual individuals is unacceptable and must be addressed.
While showing support for LGBTQ marriage rights through any means necessary is important, marriage equality is just the tip of an ever-changing iceberg. Even with victory on this particular issue, there is a multitude of others that can and must be addressed. It is our responsibility as members of the Brown community to begin the long process of learning about, grappling with and solving these problems for the betterment of our society as a whole.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editor, Dan Jeon, and its members, Mintaka Angell, Samuel Choi, Nicholas Morley and Rachel Occhiogrosso. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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