Why I Believe There Should be a Gender Inclusive ENDA

The other day I was lifting some weights at my university's recreation center and noticed some other people staring at me. It wasn't the quick glance, but the one that suggested "What the fuck are you?" I'm no stranger to people asking me what gender that I am, or assuming that I am a man which happens even more frequently. Something about that instance really got to me. I was so uncomfortable that I left the Rec center and decided that I needed to create a blog to speak out about gendered assumptions. Most days I can handle the staring, the questions, the assumptions about who I am based on my short hair and lack of overt feminization. I just wanted to work out and without saying a word two people made me feel unwelcome.

Another story from last week. I was traveling back to Lexington from Wisconsin and stopped in a Bob Evan's to have dinner with my Father. While my Dad was in the bathroom, a child and her Father walked by our table. She was asking questions about the people in the restaurant. She pointed to me and asked something. The Father (I am assuming) looked me straight in the eye and said, "That... I don't know what that is. It doesn't matter." As they left the restaurant I listened to their conversation and realized that the child was asking the gender of people in the room. It didn't upset me at the time, but the conversation lingers in my mind.

I don't normally dwell on people assuming things about my gender or mistaking me for a man. I actually don't mind when people call me a man and then correct themselves. It is the feeling of otherness or of being unwelcome because I don't easily fit into the gender binary. This is where the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has a personal element for me.

Last year there was a bill introduced in congress, HR. 3685, which was a reduced version of the original Employment Non-Discrimination Act, HR. 2015. The new version prohibited discrimination on sexual orientation alone, instead of both sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. Let me divert for a moment and explain the difference.

Sexual Orientation is your attraction to specific or non-specific genders. For example, if you are a lesbian in the United States you typically are a woman attracted to other women. Gender Identity is the gender that you feel comfortable expressing. Your gender identity and gender expression may coincide with your biological sex (think xy, xx) or differ or fluctuate. If you transition from one gender to another you often change your sexual orientation. If a gay man transitions to a woman, and is still attracted to men, then they could be considered straight.

You may be wondering what the big deal is between the new ENDA and the older one. Why not go for the reduced bill and then expand it later? For one, if they pass the newer bill it would take a long long time to expand the bill to include gender identity and expression. For another, many many people (Queer or not) do not fit into the rigid gender binary and it's many cultural rules. The queer community has used gender performance as a way to create visibility of queerness, and often the performance goes against gendered rules set about in United States culture. Gender identity and expression does not restrict itself to the Transgender community. By limiting the bill to sexual orientation protection, it is severly limiting it's usefulness of protections for people to discrimination based on who they are sleeping with or how they define their orientation. It is ok if someone discriminates against someone because they have short hair if they are a woman, just not if they are a lesbian. That makes a lot of sense.

For a more thourough discussion of ENDA, check out this link: Daily Kos: Vote NO on ENDA.

Something to chew on, back in the 60's you could be arrested for being a woman in public and not having at least 3 feminine articles of clothing on your person. In New York City, the police would often do raids on gay bars and arrest people for not having properly gendered clothing. I wonder what constitutes feminine clothing? Do socks count?

What do you all think? Does Lexington rigidly conform to gender rules? Why? Is it because Lexington considers itself a "southern" city? Is it the large state school atmoshphere? I have noticed more people making assumptions about my gender in Lexington than in the DC area. It might just be because I am paying attention more, and also because I have worked a public service job for most of the time since I have been back. People can get crazy about coffee.

Dress in drag for a day, see what happens. Why do we depend on gendered rules so much?

Thanks for reading.