Putting the ‘T’ back in LGBT

Now that we have won a national right to marriage, is there room in the LGBT community for middle ground on the White House pride reception heckler? 

Jennicet Gutiérrez was escorted from the White House on the president’s orders while a room full of her fellow LGBT companions booed her. She was protesting the treatment of undocumented trans people, namely the physical and sexual abuse they frequently endure in America’s detention centers. Some media outlets have called the incident and ensuing national discussion a fracture in the LGBT community. Unfortunately, the fault lines surely exist. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the national group lobbying for same sex marriage and other LGBT rights, has been criticized by the trans community for pursuing an agenda that too often leaves trans-centric advances behind. In 2013, HRC apologized for censoring undocumented trans activists during protests for marriage equality. HRC President Chad Griffin, who attended the White House pride reception, has yet to comment publicly on Jennicet Gutiérrez’s protest. 

{mosads}To be clear, the LGBT community should be celebrating Gutiérrez. After all, the “T” in LGBT sparked the entire modern gay rights movement via the Stonewall Riots when drag queens incited the marginalized crowd to fight back against the police raid in 1969. Since then, trans activists have influenced and helped carry the entire movement to today’s monumental Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Gutiérrez is part of that history.

It is a history scattered with impolite outbursts and at times prone to radical politics. We interrupted politicians often. We glitter-bombed them. When no one was listening during the AIDS crisis, we demanded to be heard. For most of our history, we have been a thorn in the side of politicians, not a trophy they proudly displayed on the mantle. The White House witnessed its first gay protest fifty years ago by the Mattachine Society. There would have been no chance for an out LGBT activist to enter the White House then, let alone for a sitting president to host a pride reception.

I have many friends who attended the June 24, 2015 White House pride reception. Each excitedly posted pictures to social media as they visited the nation’s most powerful and prestigious house to celebrate all the advancements we have made as a community. Perhaps they could not hear Gutiérrez’s words over the president’s requests for silence. Perhaps, as DCites, they were accustomed to attending political events that maintained a certain level of decorum. I do not know; but I do know they were there listening ardently to the first president to ever take our community seriously recount our successes and outline hopes for our shared future. I can empathize with those who jumped to protect the voice of our most powerful ally from an interruption. This is a president the LGBT community fought hard to elect and we count as one of our own. We share a strong, and perhaps protective, bond with Obama. Compared to his predecessors, Obama has an exceptional, though not flawless, record on LGBT rights. He has appointed more openly LGBT individuals to public office than any other president. He elected to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court. He signed legislation repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. And when he finally ‘evolved’ on same-sex marriage, it seemed to be the tipping point for the entire country. 

We should not let the heckling event overshadow our pride month celebration of these accomplishments, won both by the LGBT community and our allies in government. Nor should we rush to label the reception attendees as transphobic. Yet certainly, we should not shush away Jennicet Gutiérrez, or the voice of any trans activist, as the president did. Instead we should continue to stand as one community, emboldened by our newfound nationwide right to marriage, and continue to demand fair treatment of all LGBT individuals by our government, while applauding Obama, five Supreme Court justices, and our allies in Congress who make these gains possible.

White is a gay professional in Washington, DC with Congressional and executive branch experience who believes in equality for all.