In Opposition to anti-Queer/anti-Trans Legislations
On March 29, 2023, The Kentucky Legislature overrode Governor Basher's Veto of Sentate Bill 150.
Student Groups' Joint Statement in Opposition to anti-Queer/anti-Trans Legislations in KY
March 16, 2023
Dear Centre Community:
On March 14th, during the Justice for Queer Lives in Kentucky: A Resource Panel, we were tasked to find intersectional alliances to actively oppose legislations that violently erase the lives of Queer and Trans individuals and to shoulder the responsibility of caring for the well-being of one another as an act of resistance. We were tasked to stop “thinking in silos” and recognize that all systems of domination, all forms of oppression, and modalities of subjugation, are co-constitutive and mutually reinforcing; we cannot think in isolation. As members of this community, we cannot be content with passive and empty expressions of support. As much as we need to demand institutional support for our Queer and Trans students, we must also shoulder each other's need for care. We acknowledge this call, and this is our response.
We, the undersigned affinity- and social identity-based organizations of Centre College, strongly condemn all anti-Queer and anti-Trans legislations in Kentucky (and the USA at large) that seek to violently erase the lives of Queer and Trans people.
Three months into 2023, anti-Trans legislation has been introduced in 39 states. In Tennessee, the Republican-supermajority passed a law that prohibits gender-affirming care for transgender children and imposed limitations on drag-performances that could open further legal battles for Queer performance art. Mississippi enacted a similar ban on treatment for transgender youth. We are now witnessing the same kind of discriminatory and dangerous initiatives in Kentucky; lawmakers are now fast-tracking measures that target Trans and Queer individuals. For example, the language of House Bill 470 would allow the state to overrule parents’ rights to obtain life-saving health care services for transgender children; put medical professionals in an impossible position—either violate their professional standards and ethics or break Kentucky law and lose their license; force transgender kids to detransition; and, prohibit trans students from using school facilities that correspond to their gender identities.*
(*Credit: The descriptive language used has been adopted from the Fairness Campaign.)
We want to set a very clear boundary: this non-exhaustive list of legislation is not a result of backlash to Queer/Trans visibility. To echo Dr. Chelsea Ebin, categorizing this concerted work of erasure as “backlash” shifts the blame onto Queer and Trans folks for simply wanting to live their lives authentically. As she notes in her work, this political agenda is “prefigurative.” All of these Kentucky bills, and others around the US, seek to create a future that not only ostracizes Queer and Trans individuals but also erases them from existence by codifying essentialized and outdated understandings of sexual orientation and gender identity. From the very start, these legislations were not about preserving the innocence and conscience of children; it is about dehumanization, it is about violence.
Allyship is a verb. We need to recognize that attacks on Queer and Trans individuals are also an attack on every marginalized group. Our liberation is interdependent and therefore relies on collective action. To our Queer and Trans family: we know our words will never be enough. However, we offer our anger: our rage against this dehumanization and our anger against these attempts of erasure and control. We offer our love: our love in affirmation of care and existence. We all deserve to live our lives authentically. We all deserve to live.
The Student Initiative for Reproductive Justice and Centre Pride Alliance (CPA) have put together a resource sheet explaining anti-Queer/anti-Trans bills in detail (as well as others) and actionable things that we can do to get involved. Do not stand idly by—lives are at stake.
In solidarity and advocacy,
(Listed alphabetically)
Asian American and Pacific Islander Coalition (AAPIC)
Beta Theta Pi
Black Student Organization (BSO)
Bonner Program
Centre College Democrats (CCD)
Centre DESI
Centre Environmental Association (CEA)
CentreFirsts
Centre Feminists
Centre Girls Who Code College Loop (GWC)
Centre Players (CP)
Centre Pride Alliance (CPA)
Centre Union for Affirming Christians (CUFAC)
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Gender Inclusive Restroom Initiative
International Student Association (ISA)
Jewish Student Organization (JSO)
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta (KD)
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Muslim Student Association (MSA)
Phi Kappa Tau
Sister2Sister
Student Initiative for Reproductive Justice
Students for Prevention, Education, and Advocacy in the Community (SPEAC)
Student Government Association of Centre College (SGA)
Vietnamese Student Association (VSA)