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Speaking to an evangelical news outlet, Mat Staver, president of the multi-million dollar hate group, the Liberty Counsel, said that transgender people shouldn’t enjoy the “special right” not to be lynched under a Senate bill that makes lynching people a federal crime. Specifically, Staver is offended that lynching, “involving actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability” would be criminalized. See page 7 of the document below:
Staver seemed to claim that should queer people be protected in this bill from lynching, gay and trans people would be able to move their agenda forward. “The old saying is once that camel gets the nose in the tent, you can’t stop them from coming the rest of the way in,” said Staver. He continued, “and this would be the first time that you would have in federal law mentioning gender identity and sexual orientation as part of this anti-lynching bill.” Staver claims that the anti-lynching bill is a step towards the Employment Nondiscrimination Act or “ENDA,” a bill that was first introduced in Congress in 1994, based on a bill submitted to Congress in 1974.
Cristan Williams is a trans historian and pioneer in addressing the practical needs of underserved communities. She started the first trans homeless shelter in Texas and co-founded the first federally funded housing-first homeless program, pioneered affordable health care for trans people in the Houston area, won the right for trans people to change their gender on Texas ID prior to surgery, started numerous trans social service programs and founded the Transgender Center as well as the Transgender Archives. She has published short stories, academic chapters and papers, and numerous articles for both print and digital magazines. She received numerous awards for her advocacy and has presented at universities throughout the nation, served on several governmental committees and CBO boards, is the Editor of the TransAdvocate, and is a founding board member of the Transgender Foundation of America and the Bee Busy Wellness Center.
