Gender Equality for All Genders
March is Gender Equality Month. In 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which made gender equality part of international human rights law. The gender equality movement in North America goes back to the 19th century and is historically associated with the Women’s Rights Movement of the mid to late 1900s.
Regardless, the modern gender equality movement needs to expand to include not only equality for cisgender individuals, but equality for trans+ individuals as well. Which includes, but is not limited to, equality for transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, two-spirit, gender-fluid, and agender individuals.
Gender equality doesn’t only pertain to women’s rights. Real and total gender equality occurs when people of all genders have the freedom to pursue whatever careers, educations, lifestyles, or capabilities they desire without discrimination or oppression. That is why we must realize that including trans+ rights in gender equality is not a threat to women’s rights.
The media, anti-feminist groups, anti-LGBTQ groups, religious institutions, and our government have pitted supporters of Women’s Rights against the transgender community. They do this by saying that trans women are not valid in their womanhood. They say that trans women are just violent men looking to sneak into a women’s restroom to commit heinous acts. None of which is true or based on any reliable evidence of any kind.
In particular, the bathroom argument is absurd. Sadly, if a cis man wanted to waltz into the women’s bathroom at a Walmart and assault someone, he could. There are no gender police outside women’s bathrooms going, “Mh. You pass as a woman. Come on in!”.
Even if there were, cis men can dress as women too. Cis and trans women do not have some special power that allows them to dress in a feminine way.
A cis man could walk into Walmart on Tuesday, buy women’s clothes in his size, come back on Wednesday dressed in those clothes, a wig, and makeup, and walk past the gender police and into the women’s bathroom.
This example is completely ridiculous, I agree, but the argument that all trans women are wolves in sheep’s clothing is even more ridiculous.
Despite their inaccuracy, some feminists believe these transphobic lies. Their reasons to do so range anywhere from genuine ignorance to outright hatred for the LGBTQ+ community. Believe it or not, there are groups of women’s rights activists who support right-wing ideology, never mind that that same ideology encourages gender inequality. We may not be able to sway the group with the latter reasoning, but genuine ignorance and misunderstandings can be solved through awareness and education.
Thankfully, organizations like the HRC and UN Women have been taking measures and enacting programs that have raised awareness and educated the public on this issue. As a result, many modern women’s rights activists agree that trans equality is essential to women’s equality.
Since the beginning, the core principle of the Gender Equality Movement has been to end oppression. To achieve that goal, all forms of gender oppression must be targeted. That includes discrimination and oppression against the trans+ community. We will never reach full gender equality in any area of society if we do not fight for the rights and freedoms of ALL genders.
