Durham fails to condemn anti-gay bill because of debate over who is more oppressed | Opinion

Things got heated at Durham City Council’s Thursday work session when council member and former Mayor Pro Tem Jillian Johnson introduced a resolution that would take a firm stance against the transphobic bills being filed in the North Carolina General Assembly.

North Carolina Republicans have filed at least two bills that directly target trans youth in North Carolina. The most worrisome of these is the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” — also known as N.C.’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill — that has already passed the N.C. Senate and will soon get a vote in the House.

This type of resolution seems like a no-brainer for Durham, the city that held North Carolina’s first Pride parade. Yet the conversation ended up taking a turn when Mark-Anthony Middleton, the current Mayor Pro Tem, had a concern over the phrasing of the second sentence in the resolution.

“WHEREAS, members of the LGBTQ+ community currently experience the highest rate of hate-motivated violence among all marginalized communities in the US.”

Middleton said he felt this wasn’t factually accurate, as the FBI’s hate crime tracking data shows that race is the most common reason victims of hate crimes were targeted. Johnson pointed out that, when compared to the size of the overall U.S. population, LGBTQ individuals experience the highest rate of hate crime victimization.

From there, other members of the council began weighing in on the resolution and the argument between Johnson and Middleton. Johnson eventually asked if the rules could be suspended so that the council could hold a vote, even though that isn’t part of work session procedure. The council voted against changing things up, and now the resolution will be voted on in 10 days.

The decision to hold the resolution is frustrating, but what is more troubling is a seeming competition of oppression between two marginalized groups. It ignores the real issue at hand — the severity of the current legislation Republicans are proposing — and it glosses over the fact that Black and brown trans youth are the ones more likely to face real danger, because they hold both these targeted identities.

Even if that was not the intent of either Johnson or Middleton (after all, both Johnson and Middleton are Black, and Johnson is bisexual), the failure to create a compromise and act fast is exactly that: a failure.

Durham would not be Durham without Black people. Durham would not be Durham without the LGBTQ community. And Durham especially wouldn’t be the city it is without the queer Black individuals that put their love and time into making it what it is, like the drag performers in the House of Coxx and the activists at the LGBTQ Center of Durham.

Councilmember Leonardo Williams suggested using the phrase “one of the highest rates.” That’s a compromise that all of the members of council should be able to agree upon. It’s disappointing that they couldn’t come to that conclusion.

Splitting hairs over phrasing misses the point entirely. All marginalized groups are fighting for their rights to be who they are, on their terms. We all must work together to combat oppression. Again, it’s not a competition: we gain nothing from trying to silo ourselves off from one another.