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Preface

I debated whether to write this article at all.

For the last ten years I’ve been countering the excuses that have been made to exclude gender and sexual minorities from participation in society. From the ban on Gay/Straight Alliances in Catholic schools (excuse: contravenes Catholic teachings and values), to the successful efforts to kill anti-discrimination legislation for trans and non-binary people (excuse: would enable sexual predators), to the removal of LGBTQ-inclusive sex-ed (excuse: parents weren’t sufficiently consulted), to the intimidation at Pride events by white Christian nationalists (excuse: white Christians are under attack). It’s always the same: people who aren’t excluded on the basis of their gender identity or sexual orientation arguing that others should be.

Our world is changing in wonderful ways: people are living longer, parents are spending more time with their children, stigma around mental health is declining, and differing life experiences are increasingly becoming part of our everyday.

This last point has been alarming to some. The increasing visibility of life experiences they don’t relate to conflicts with values they acquired long ago. Their ignorance leads them to believe that this out-group acts in ways that are improper. They are consequently alarmed when decision-makers validate concerns exclusive to these interlopers. Out of this comes a desire to stop this change in their lives and return to a world where this minority was without perceived presence or agency.