May 15, 2019
Page 9
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O PINION
MCS Still in
Business
All I Want is Equality for My Child Martin
And for other
children and
adults like her
K aren D olan
What mother
on earth doesn’t
want
equality
and health for her
child? I certainly
do.
I gave birth nearly two decades
ago to a healthy, beautiful, intelli-
gent child, who cried more than I
thought she would and whose tu-
tu-wearing terrible twos persist-
ed into her tiara-wearing terrible
threes. This willful nature turned
out to be both her most challeng-
ing and her finest quality.
She skipped kindergarten be-
cause her mind was so sharp. She
built fairy houses during recess
and enlisted the whole school in
creating a moss-covered, magi-
cal twig town. She wrote poems
about springtime and belted out
preteen pops songs about cute
boys. She was popular among her
girlfriends.
But she wasn’t allowed to
use the girls’ bathroom. She had
shoes thrown at her head when
by
she wore leggings and lacy tops.
She endured public school teach-
ers making the sign of the cross
and running off when she walked
between classes.
All because my daughter was
born transgender.
In high school she became part
of the solution. She became an
advocate for transgender youth,
who suffer discrimination and vi-
olence at alarming rates.
With the help of her mentors,
she eventually brought her ad-
vocacy to Obama White House,
where she helped Education Sec-
retary Arne Duncan craft guid-
ance making sure Title IX in-
cluded nondiscrimination against
transgender and gender noncon-
forming students.
Then came the Trump admin-
istration — and the equality that
she and so many had fought for
was cruelly ripped away. Almost
immediately, Education Secre-
tary Betsy DeVos rescinded the
very guidance protecting her that
my daughter had helped to craft.
My willful child was able to
meet with DeVos. She explained
what this would mean for chil-
dren like her who would again be
denied the use of the bathroom
— and who would continue to
be hit, suspended, and bullied by
students and teachers alike.
But DeVos and Trump don’t
care about my daughter’s wel-
fare. They want her very human
and civil right to exist in public
spaces to disappear.
At the National Prayer Break-
fast on May 2, Trump told an
audience of right-wing religious
leaders about a sweeping new
rule that will allow medical pro-
fessionals and employers to deny
health care to transgender chil-
dren and adults for so-called “re-
ligious reasons.”
He’s already banned transgen-
der soldiers from serving in the
military. He’s already rescinded
protections for transgender stu-
dents in schools. And he’s already
stricken the very word “transgen-
der” from any publication by the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
However, a beacon in the storm
came a day before the ominous
Prayer Breakfast announcement:
The House Judiciary Committee
passed The Equality Act, and it’s
expected to pass the full House.
This could be a historic victory
— not only for my child and the
LGBTQIA community, women,
and people of color, but for prin-
ciple of equality for all that must
stand in any democratic society.
The Equality Act amends the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
many subsequent civil rights-re-
lated acts so that they will explic-
itly and consistently, across all
states, provide equal protection
against discrimination for the
categories of gender identity and
sexual orientation.
So that my child can have the
same health care as your child. So
that my child can have the same
right to education, housing, trans-
portation, credit, employment,
and existence as your child. So
that my child may live freely and
equally to others.
My child continues to use her
voice loudly and effectively. She
is not bowed. But her very right
to exist is threatened even more
now than when people were
throwing shoes at her head.
All I want us equality for my
child — and for other children
and adults like her. Is this any
different from what every mother
wants?
Karen Dolan directs the Crim-
inalization of Race and Poverty
Project at the Institute for Policy
Studies. Distributed by Other-
Words.org.
My Goal is for People to Stop Killing Each Other
What does it
mean to teach
peace?
e llen b irKett l inDeen
Depending on your age, people
associate peace with protesting
the Vietnam War, songs, movies
and marches of the 1960’s, the
time before 9/11, quiet getaway
retreats, or their yoga class. So
what does it mean to teach peace
and how would one do it? I think
the why is obvious.
I have been teaching all my
life – first more than a decade at
the high school level and after
that, college students. Most of my
courses were writing, composi-
tion and literature, but at a certain
point in my career I heard about
the field of Peace Studies, and I
wanted to learn more.
I went back to school, complet-
ed the most meaningful course-
work I have ever undertaken, and
began teaching peace. People
frequently ask me what it means
to teach peace, or even what spe-
cifically I teach. Here’s the short
version.
Conflict is not bad; conflict is
by
necessary for all people to have
a voice, but conflict is not the
same as violence. Violent conflict
is not inevitable. Just as people
can be taught to kill in the armed
services, they can be taught to
use other methods of interaction.
Peace Studies and Conflict Reso-
lution includes concepts, history
and strategies so that people can
learn to stop being violent. My
uals and groups to use, to prevent,
resolve and contain conflicts, large
and small, in ways which bring
about satisfaction for everyone.
The curriculum includes readings
by Thoreau, Gandhi, King, Gene
Sharp, Roger Fisher, Bill Ury, the
Dalai Lama, Jane Addams, Arch-
bishop Desmond Tutu, Margaret
Mead, and information from the
United Nations and Vision for Hu-
Conflict is expected. Most political
science courses focus on war, not
peace, but courses in peace studies do
not necessarily focus only on historical
peacetimes.
goal is for people to stop killing
each other.
Humans likely do not come
from such violent beginnings.
This is a well-entrenched myth,
but one that is easy to maintain by
those whose plan is to perpetuate
armed conflict.
Peace studies and conflict res-
olution coursework uses Harvard
Negotiation Project concepts,
which delineate roles for individ-
manity. We read, discuss, listen,
analyze, agree and disagree, reach
conclusions, and discuss more.
A crucial goal within the course
is to learn nonviolent ways to
bring about needed change in
people, societies, communities or
countries.
Conflict is expected. Most po-
litical science courses focus on
war, not peace, but courses in
peace studies do not necessarily
focus only on historical peace-
times. Peace does not mean the
absence of war; that is called neg-
ative peace.
Positive peace is based on eight
factors, according to the Institute
for Economics and Peace: Accep-
tance of the rights of others, low
levels of corruption, free flow of
information, high levels of human
capital, good relations with neigh-
bors, sound business environment,
well-functioning government, and
equitable distribution of resources.
To work for a sustainable peace,
people focus on factors to gen-
erate positive peace, rather than
simply to avoid violence. A more
peaceful world, or at least a less
violent one, seems like a dream
worth envisioning to me, and my
students agree.
What if peace has not been
achieved only because people
thought it was unattainable? Why
do I teach peace? Because I be-
lieve it is possible.
Ellen Birkett Lindeen, syndicat-
ed by PeaceVoice, is an Emeritus
Professor of English at Waubons-
ee Community College where she
taught Peace Studies & Conflict
Resolution and Human Rights &
Social Justice.
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