49 | OutBoise Magazine | 2015 Pride Guide
outboise.com | Issue 8.2 | June 2015
Now this bright hope still had a huge number of
very dark corners and pot holes and dank swampy bits.
I knew that transitioning put everything in my life at risk.
I could be fired from my job and experience dismissive discrimination while finding another one, I could
lose all my family and friends, I could be marginalized
and rejected in so many ways and in so many places,
but I knew I would have strong supportive LGBT people
around me who understood. And that made all the
difference. That gave me courage to stand up for who
I really was. It gave me courage to go to the testimony
for the Boise nondiscrimination ordinance just days
after I had transitioned at my job of 14 years. And when
a picture with me showed up in the Statesman and
people at work mentioned it I had courage and pride. I
also found the courage to go back to college so I could
prepare myself to help my community professionally.
Because there is a lot to do and a lot to fix. If you are
reading this then you already know that truth.
One other thing that this shared courage of community gave me was conviction. When the 2014 Idaho
legislative session began people started organizing to
get the Add the Words issue onto the agenda. Once it
was clear that the legislature did not intend to discuss
the matter of adding the words “sexual orientation” or
“gender identity” to the state’s existing Human Rights
Act, I knew that I needed to contribute my presence
towards a resolution. I participated in the civil disobedience shoulder to shoulder with my trans, lesbian, bi and
gay community members and the incredible allies that
came together to push our government for redress of
this long standing grievance. And in 2015 we told them
our stories. Let’s hope that in 2016 they listen and act.
It was hard to hear the testimony and not cry, but we
supported each other and helped each other regain
strength and hope.
lesbian and gay people. There is a network of trans
people forming, with the help of the ACLU of Idaho, to
help people throughout the state come together and
share ideas and concerns. Because even though things
are better for trans people than they have ever been,
they aren’t nearly as good as they will become. Let’s be
proud!
So here we are in 2015. For trans people, we are
in a time of unprecedented visibility. People are seeing more of us and hearing more of our stories, and this
helps tremendously. Laverne Cox has been on the cover of Time magazine and Janet Mock was interviewed
by Oprah. And, for better or worse, Bruce Jenner has
become a household word again because of Jenner’s
impending transition. President Obama became the first
president to use the word “transgender” in a State of
the Union Address.
www.ACLUofIdaho.org Jess McCafferty and the Trans
Idaho Network
www.fairisfairidaho.org Idaho specific transgender
information
www.tccidaho.org/we-are-family/ Tri States Transgender, Families Advocating Transgender Equality (FATE),
and PFLAG of the Treasure Valley contact information
www.addthewords.org The Add the Words movement.
And the majority of the numerous anti-trans bills
that various state legislatures have tried to push have
been defeated because people have stood up and
fought back. The Idaho legislature didn’t even try any of
these restrictive discriminatory trans busting bills because
they knew that there were people already in place
and ready to push back. But we better stay ready next
session. We’ve seen marriage equality in Idaho come
to stay, and that affects trans people just as much as