From revised photo-ID laws that require government-issued IDs to vote to trainings that“teach” poll workers how to target transgender voters, trans Americans continue to face an unprecedented effort to thwart their rights to vote on November 6.
Over the weekend, a graphic by the right-wing, Tea Party organization ‘True the Vote’ surfaced featuring transphobic images and false claims that transgender people are fraudulent voters and should be denied the right to vote.
The National Center For Transgender Equality (NCTE) strongly condemned Truth the Vote’s bullying tactics and encouraged trans voters to be prepared come Tuesday.
NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling said:
“It is disgraceful that True the Vote would try to thug anyone into not voting. True the Vote’s true agenda is a shameful attempt to scare trans people away from participating in our democracy.”
“Trans people are resilient,” said Keisling. “For trans people, voting is not just a right and a responsibility, for us it is also an important part of how we are winning our equality. Scare tactics like this won’t keep us from that.”
For months GLAAD has been working with NCTE to raise visibility around the challenges trans voters face trying to exercise their rights to vote, releasing a series of public service announcements at www.votingwhiletrans.org and by encouraging the media to shine light on the over all challenges transgender Americans face when trying to obtain identification that accurate represents who they are.
The PSAs are part of NCTE’s "Voting While Trans" public awareness campaign and part of GLAAD's effort to raise visiblity about the challenges thousands of transgender people may face heading to the polls this November. This year thousands of transgender Americans face being denied the right to to vote or having their vote discounted because of new strict photo ID law. The Williams Institute at UCLA estimates that more than 25,000 transgender people could lose their right to vote as a result of revised photo ID laws.
In case you are challenged, be prepared by bringing NCTE’s “Voting While Trans Checklist” with you when you vote. The Checklist includes a message from NCTE to poll workers clarifying possible questions they may have about your identification. If a poll worker or poll watcher attempts to deny you a ballot, call the National Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) immediately.
For more information on how you can protect your right to vote, visit: glaad.org/vote .
Kit Yan
Writer and Trans Advocate Janet Mock
Charles Stephens
Ignacio Rivera