Bigotry, by Definition

Mr. Spink, my previous letter explained why the Pride movement isn’t meant to support individuals hostile to their members. Ms. Forstater’s publicly-stated beliefs espoused hostility to people who identify as transgender (the T in LGBTQ). If the Center for Global Development had renewed Ms. Forstater’s contract, they would have compelled their transgender employees to work with someone who expressed contempt for who they are based on their group membership.

Ms. Forstater’s attitude exhibited textbook bigotry: “obstinate or unreasonable attachment to a belief, opinion, or faction; in particular, prejudice against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group.” This definition comes from Oxford Languages and features prominently at the top of the page if you google “bigotry”. Merriam-Webster and other dictionaries have near-identical definitions.

The Supreme Court ruled, in Bostock v Clatyon County (2020) [1], that transgender people are a protected class consistent with – wait for it – The Civil Rights Act of 1964. Transgender rights are civil rights.

Furthermore, a 2018 study [2] published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that for each additional social context in which a youth’s chosen name was used, there was a statistically-significant decrease in depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behaviors. An investigation [3] published this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association had similar findings. In other words, “deadnaming” and misgendering transgender people, as you did in your original letter, likely contributes to depression and suicidal behavior in a group that faces frequent discrimination and violence.

If that doesn’t qualify someone as a jerk, I don’t know what would.

–Travis Reitter, Castro Valley

[1] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/17-1618_hfci.pdf

[2] https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(18)30085-5/fulltext

[3] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2789423