When Human Rights Are No Longer a Right

In the past several weeks, we have seen some of the most extremist anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the nation introduced and passed here in Florida. Just when we think something couldn’t possibly get worse, it does, because they aren’t done. These bigoted pieces of legislation include:

• Bills that criminalize transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming people from utilizing the bathroom they feel the most comfortable and safe in. (PASSED, EFFECTIVE JULY 1ST, 2023)
• Banning gender-affirming care from minors, which only includes puberty blockers, a change in hairstyles, clothing changes, going by a different name, etc. (PASSED, EFFECTIVE MAY 17TH, 2023, i.e., IMMEDIATELY)
• Restricting HRT from adults (which also will include cisgender people that are using HRT for their lower hormone levels) by criminalizing non-MD providers such as NPs that treat these individuals. (PASSED, EFFECTIVE MAY 17TH, 2023, i.e., IMMEDIATELY)
• Penalizing teachers and schools/universities from using a student’s preferred name and pronouns. (PASSED, EFFECTIVE MAY 17TH, 2023, i.e., IMMEDIATELY))
• Legalizing religious bias in healthcare against individuals whose life or beliefs do not align with the provider (thus allowing a patient to potentially be further harmed or allowing them to die in the name of Jesus). (PASSED)
• Chinese immigrants have been placed with severe restrictions when it comes to owning property in certain areas in Florida. (SB 264, HB 1355)
• DeSantis has authorized a private military force outside of the United States Military, to enforce his laws and restore order when the people rise to protest, which is considered a revival of a World War II era “State Guard.” (POSSIBLY EFFECTIVE JULY 1ST, 2023, IF APPROVED AND PASSED)
• Journalists, bloggers, Vloggers, etc. that write about the governor must register with the state. (INTRODUCED MARCH 2ND, 2023)

Let’s talk about the legalities of these legislative ordinances. Even though these bills were created to dehumanize an already marginalized group of people, are these laws restricting the very human rights that the Founding Fathers intended for us to have? Yes. The Civil Rights Act of 1871 was created to ensure that all humans were treated with equal respect and human decency afforded to us by whatever Higher Power you happen to believe in. The Constitution itself states that all men are created equal. So why are we not treated as equal human beings, with the basic human and civil rights as a cisgender, straight human being?

These bigoted beliefs are rooted in religious extremism and persecution of non-believing people groups. Looking back throughout history, we see the Crusades and the Colonization of the Americas as the most prominent examples of the persecution of non-believers. Although The United States of America was founded in retaliation of religious persecution, we are now seemingly reverting to our early oppressor’s strict religious laws and guidelines and creating egregious punishments and penalties for those that do not conform to these strict rulings. Throughout the centuries, religion has been used to destroy human lives. What we are seeing now, especially in Florida with Ron DeSantis, is parallel to the Nazi extremism penned into the Nürnberg Laws of 1935.

What were the Nürnberg Laws? These vile laws, penned by Hitler and approved by the Nazi party at the Nürnberg Convention on September 15th, 1935, were a two-race based set of laws and conditions that separated the Jewish people from German people. The base of these laws refused Jewish people from becoming German citizens and forbade them from marrying or having sexual relationships with Germans. These laws were designed to breed out a people group that Hitler despised and did not see as human beings equal to himself.

Slowly, more and more restrictions and bans were created to push out and eradicate the Jews. Jewish people were forbidden from public office, forbidden from voting, removed from medical professions and forbidden from practicing medicine, their passports stamped with a giant red “J” to distinguish them and out them to others, and eventually as we all know, they were carted off like animals to concentration camps, millions murdered in gas chambers while their belongings stolen and divided among the Nazis.

DeSantis, along with most of the Republican party, have vowed to overturn and outlaw same-sex marriage. They have already worked successfully to overturn protections for the transgender and gender-nonconforming community, only having just begun with their targeted attacks. DeSantis uses his personal and religious beliefs as the basis for supporting and approving these laws, using the excuse of “protecting children” when signing them into place. The ignorant and unfounded belief that transgender people and queer people are child predators is about as hilarious and infuriating as it is exasperating. Gender identity and sexual orientation do not make a person a predator. A predator is a predator. Someone who wants to harm another person is going to harm another person, just as a thief is going to steal regardless of race, religion, or gender, and just like a schoolyard bully is going to bully, regardless of being told no.

The parallels and similarity of the mentality and laws created by the Republican party and the Nazi Regime are as terrifying as they are evil. While there are still survivors alive of the World War 2 atrocities, most humans that survived the Holocaust during the Nazi rule are not alive today. Those that are, have spoken out against extremist laws such as these, reminding us of what they witnessed and experienced during that time. They warn that laws like these not only create division, but they are a precursor to far worse rulings and a system of tyranny that serve only to harm a society.

The ideas and misinformation being spread about the transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming community not only are extremely harmful, but they create a hostile environment for those people. It’s almost as though we are not seen as human beings anymore. We are seen as a threat, for the simple fact that we exist outside of what they believe we should look like, act like, and be. The sad reality is that most of us have lost everything to live our truth. We are not predators; we only want the same rights as everyone else. Why must transgender and gender-nonconforming people place their lives in danger by using the restroom that aligns with the genitals that they were born with? Why must they suddenly be denied medication that has regulated their hormone levels for the past 10 years?

Denying a person medical care is a basic Civil Rights Violation. Denying them access to a public restroom by restricting them with laws that degrade them and define them to their genitals is a civil and human rights violation. The Civil Rights Act of 1871 is explained in 42 U.S. Code § 1983. Every person who has been deprived of their Constitutional rights by a law, ordinance, or such, has the right to sue the governing official that has created, approved, and passed such ordinations. The Civil Rights Act of 1871 was originally created to protect black individuals from being mistreated and deprived of their Constitutional rights by an officiant of the law. By 1938, the law had evolved to include all persons. The importance of this is prevalent in the new civil rights fight today, because without this federally codified protection in place, there may be no possibility of challenging the ignorance and bigotry that is threatening regression to our society.

On May 17th, 2023, International Day Against Biphobia, Homophobia, and Transphobia, Ron DeSantis stood in front of a camera in Sarasota, Florida, repeatedly lied, and signed into law some of the most bigoted and restrictive laws in the country against the entire Queer community. But for what? Why is an entire party so committed to eradicating an entire people group? History, again, has shown us the answer. Any person that is considered “different” or non-conforming to the way that these people want us to be, is considered a threat. The first documented slaves were brought to South Carolina in 1526, from Santo Domingo. Slavery was a way dehumanize an individual, and as we know, melonated human beings were not considered to be human. The Holocaust, slaughtering an entire race of human being just because they were Jewish, is yet another example of destroying a specific group of people who were not what society wanted. It appears that unless an individual is straight, cisgender, white, and Christian, they are not seen as a relevant part of human society.

This view needs to change. History cannot win. We, as a society, cannot allow history to repeat itself. Thankfully, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Gender-Affirming Care ban as unconstitutional, but the Bathroom Bill remains in place, going into effect on July 1st. LGBTQ+ families are fleeing Florida in record numbers and there is now a travel advisory for the LGBTQ+ community along with the black community. Chinese immigrants cannot purchase or own certain properties, books are being banned from schools and libraries, and history is being re-written to erase slavery. The mirroring of 1933 Germany is not only unsettling, but it also brings chills to my spine. Everyone should be concerned and involved in the state of our current society’s political affairs. The old saying, “if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything,” runs through my mind when I see discriminatory legislation after legislation being passed in the states. The blatant violation of human and civil rights should be appalling to everyone.

First, they enslaved an entire civilization, then they attempted to eradicate the Jews, then they came for the LGBTQ+ community, then they stripped women’s’ right to bodily autonomy, then they came for the trans community. Who are they coming for next? Each of these attacks has been in the name of religion, or “protection.” Our civilization will not survive if we cannot learn to cohabit and exist peacefully and respectfully with one another, valuing each other’s opinions while holding our own and being able to discuss and debate in a respectful and civilized manner. Unfortunately, for now, we will have to stand up and continue fighting for the right to exist in a world where everyone is different, but some differences are more acceptable than others. One day, I dream of a society that focuses on love, care, and concern for their fellow humans. A society that cares about the environment and planet, one that understands greed and hatred will destroy everything and everyone. A society that embraces the differences in others and works together to create a culture of togetherness. It will be the only way we can survive as a species.

This week, as you travel, or go to work, or sit at home playing video games, remember that there are communities within your own community that are being targeted, and are suffering at the hands of those with more power in their hands than they know what to do with. Try to think of the emotions they are feeling, and maybe consider reaching out to let them know you care, and you are standing with them during this time. Write a letter to your senators expressing your disappointment in targeted discriminatory laws that are a waste of your taxpayer dollars. Support a small minority-owned business. There are small and simple ways you can be involved in the fight, and I encourage everyone to act. It will be the only way to ensure we do not allow dark history to repeat itself.