Lit Public Testimony For Pride Month

I was sent this testimony an Anchorage resident gave at tonight's Anchorage Assembly meeting. It's printed here with permission.

“My name is Mercedes Curran- I’m a lifelong Anchorage resident and a proud member of the local LGBTQ+ community. As many know, June is Pride Month, which the Assembly has on its agenda to recognize it. However, we cannot ignore that at the last Assembly meeting, there were many examples of transphobic and queerphobic rhetoric demonstrated by residents and even an Assemblymember.

The doubling down on “biological sex” to determine gender is archaic, misinformed, and frankly erases the existence of those who are trans or outside the definitions of the binary. The repeated use of the terms “biological man or woman” by the Assemblymember and other disgusting comments by some members of the public was uncalled for and damaging. I was so angry by it then, but now I realize they don’t know anything, so here’s a moment of education: determining gender purely by the basis of “biological sex” is not clear-cut as one could think.

And the “chromosomes, testosterone levels, anatomical features” arguments don’t hold weight either, not with all the research out there that shows otherwise. So get current, get educated, maybe actually talk to members of the trans and queer community and listen. Go to the midtown clinic for LGBT folx and speak with the medical professionals there.

There is no excuse to continue to spread harmful information and hateful ideology. Second, the perpetuation of LGBTQ+ folx being labeled as deviants and predators is appalling. Most of the arguments I heard last meeting that were about “protecting women” were really just cloaks for prejudice. Women, ALL women, aren’t coming to shelter to prey on other women. They’re seeking refuge and assistance during a deeply challenging time in their lives, so turning away anyone based upon a personal prejudice over a protected class of people is actually un-American, un-Alaskan, and unconstitutional.

Any rhetoric protecting “real women” is just bigoted dog whistling that intends to fear-monger and dehumanize one of the most vulnerable populations in our community, and implies all trans people are sexual predators which is absolutely not true. And that implication is rooted in hatred. Trans women ARE real women.

Whether you like it or not, no matter what you say in your echo chamber. They deserve freedom, like everyone else, to seek shelter, to not be discriminated against, and to access assistance from a supportive and understanding municipality. Pride Month is not and has never been just about parties or parades or rainbows.

It is much deeper than that. It’s about our right as LGBTQ+ folx to exist without fearing persecution, oppression, and violence. We work alongside you every day. We serve your food, teach your children, help run this city, wear badges, protect people’s lives, medically treat your sick and hurt loved ones. We sit at the same table, and we’re never going to leave it. We are here. We always have been. We exist; we matter. Get used to it.”