In response to all the harmful bills introduced by the GOP this past session, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Idaho asked people all over the state to mail in homemade paper hearts, representing the 48,000 Idaho residents who identified as LGBTQ+ in the 2020 Census.
It was a powerful reminder of the real lives being damaged by legislation that targets the LGBTQ+ community and anyone who doesn’t conform to the GOP’s definition of the “traditional” white family with two heterosexual parents and their children found in HCR35. God forbid those kids are gay or trans, because the parents nor the children will have any rights to be who they are or seek care they need since the GOP has taken control of parents’ rights they don’t agree with.
Over the past several years, the GOP has introduced and passed many bills to incrementally erase the rights of LGBTQ+ people and to do away with diversity and inclusion programs. These bills create an on-ramp for hate and create conditions for racism, sexism, homophobia, and many other oppressive practices to fester and culminate in incidents like we saw in CDA when the Patriot Front was arrested during Pride Fest and when the Utah basketball team was recently harassed by people hurling racist slurs at the team.
In response to this disgusting incident of hate, Rep Mathias introduced a resolution (SCR135) to denounce racism and the conditions that create it. Interestingly during debate on the Senate floor, many GOP extremists were upset because there wasn’t “proof” the incident occurred. That dangerous of attitude “good people on both sides” is what is fueling conditions of hate in Northern Idaho similar to what we saw prior to running the Aryan Nation out of town in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
The irony could not be thicker when you look at the Senate Reading Calendar where a resolution (SCR134) creating an interim committee to “investigate DEI and social justice in higher education” is nestled right above SCR135 that denounces racism. SCR135 passed out of the Senate but the House didn’t hear it.
In order to fight oppressive practices, we have to return “up river” and fight against the root causes of oppression and violence: institutionalizing attitudes, values, and beliefs that marginalize groups who are different or in the minority. If we are going to reduce harmful acts of racism, then we shouldn’t be denouncing programs that foster inclusion and diversity to help people historically excluded from mainstream America like people who are Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color along with the LGBTQ+ community and women of all races and sexual orientations.
The GOP-dominated legislature is passing bills that are attacking the progress we have made in human rights and personal freedoms in the last couple of decades. Many GOP legislators have adopted template legislation from national organizations like the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Foundation for Government Accountability, both known as “right-wing think tanks” who have focused on the overturning of Roe v. Wade and gay marriage along with kicking people off Medicaid and expanding child labor respectively.
As with all social justice movements that advance human rights, history tells the story, too, of backlash from people who have been entitled to social advantages and now feel threatened that “their way of life” is diminishing, common propaganda touted by the Idaho Freedom Foundation and other extremist groups.
With that in mind, however, we must continue to be vigilant to learn more about the methods extremists are using, so we counter their measures with common sense, dignity for all people, and courage to create a place where everyone can thrive.
I know that change can be difficult for some people; I think of my conservative, Christian father who felt threatened by what a college education did to his daughter who challenged traditional authority and fought for women’s rights.
I know that I didn’t meet his patriarchal vision, but I think he started to respect me as I advanced from college to support myself financially, not needing a handout from my parents, unlike other family members. When he saw me elected to public office, tears in his eyes, he started to get it. And later in life when he saw what Medicare did to prevent him from poverty when my mom was racking up medical bills, dying from cancer, he started to understand more of what I had advocated for.
Deep down, he was proud of his daughter, even if I didn’t meet his traditional expectations. He respected how hard I worked and persevered in the toughest of times. He wanted the best for me. And he started to understand that everyone has the right to live the life they choose, even his female progressive daughter. And he stopped feeling so threatened. And maybe, by the time he died, he realized there was room in the world for everyone — even the people fighting for equality and a new vision of the world where everyone could truly be free and accepted.
I think of how hard change was on my dad who was socialized in a very traditional way. And that’s my barometer. If I can reach him, I can reach others AND I can open my heart to more understanding as well. We all have to get past the political rhetoric and see each other as human and deserving of the opportunities to thrive.