Fundamental Human Rights Under Attack: We All Need to Respond

“First they came for the Jews, but I did nothing because I’m not a Jew. Then they came for the socialists, but I did nothing because I’m not a socialist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I did nothing because I’m not a Catholic. Finally, they came for me, but by then there was no one left to help me.”

I first learned this poem by German theologian Martin Niemoller at eight years old, sitting in Hebrew school class as I learned about the Holocaust. We read it every year, and I always thought it would only apply to me as a Jew. Now, as a college student, this poem comes back to me, not in the confines of my Hebrew school classroom, but as frighteningly applicable to the political situations in states like Florida, Arizona, Texas, and Kansas. LGBTQ+ rights, trans rights, abortion rights, and other civil liberties are under attack in these states with “Don’t Say Gay” legislation and similar bills in the name of “parental rights” and “protecting children.” Even if you don’t identify with any of the communities under fire, these bills are driven by fear and hate. All Americans who value individual rights protected under the First Amendment need to recognize that all of these so-called “guaranteed” equalities are at stake. 

Wilfredo Lee/AP

The Parental Rights in Education bill (FL HB1557 (22R)), dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, states that “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” In support of the bill, Florida governor Ron DeSantis said, “We're going to make sure that parents are able to send their kid to kindergarten without having some of this stuff injected into their school curriculum.” In response, Florida elementary public school teachers have spoken out in outrage. Jorje Botello, an 8th-grade American history teacher in Florida, declared, “A lot of these bills are written by people that have never set foot in a public education classroom.” These policymakers are making life-changing decisions about groups of which they are not a part, and this bill is no exception. This bill and the rhetoric circling governor DeSantis’s remarks—an alarming trend in American politics—are incredibly dangerous for children in the LGBTQ+ community, targeting a specific group of individuals who already have higher rates of bullying and suicide, according to The Trevor Project. 

As the battle against “Don’t Say Gay” rages in Florida, similar stories are unfolding in Arizona, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and other Republican-dominated states. Just today, Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt signed a near-total ban on any abortions in the state. The law makes performing or attempting to perform an abortion in the state, including in cases of rape in incest, a felony punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and/or a maximum of 10 years in prison. On March 30, 2022, Arizona governor Doug Ducey signed a series of bills that greatly limits access to abortion (banning the practice after 15 weeks). The bill not only says that abortion is prohibited after 15 weeks (exceptions allowed in an emergency for the life and health of the mother), physicians are required within 15 days of the procedure to document the reasons for the abortion and the fetus’s estimated age. Those who fail to comply risk a class 6 felony charge and having their license suspended or revoked. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has referred to this legislation as “a giant step backward for reproductive freedom and women's equality,” and, in a tweet Wednesday, March 30, she wrote, “Gov. Ducey's signing of the extreme and misogynistic abortion ban clarifies the very real & dangerous consequences of electing leaders who are willing to throw away our rights.” Similar tragedies propogate throughout the country.

In addition to these attacks on sexual orientation and women’s rights, trans rights are under increased fire. Arizona’s new law prohibits individuals under 18 from getting “irreversible” gender-affirming surgery. Conforming to the same themes in the abortion bill infringing on female bodily autonomy, Ducey states in support of this law, “These decisions should be made when an individual reaches adulthood. The irreversible nature of these procedures underscores why such a decision should be made as an adult, not as a child, and further supports the importance of this legislation.” Republican lawmakers in alliance with DeSantis and Ducey are using “protection of children” as an excuse to limit civil liberties. Ducey's third bill prohibits transgender women and girls from competing on public school, college, and university sports teams across Arizona. Oklahoma has also signed a similar bill into law. The American College of Physicians, recognizing these political decisions should be medical, released a statement in February stating, “Transgender individuals already face extreme barriers to accessing necessary health care, this type of interference in the patient-physician relationship is unacceptable [sic].” Dr. Terrance D. Weeden, Pediatrician & Adolescent Medicine Fellow, says laws like Alabama’s “would go against the solemn promise that I made when I became a physician: ‘first do no harm.’”

This legislation occurs at a critical time in the American presidential election cycle. These bills are catastrophic for the lives of so many individuals within these affected states, and if we continue to stand by, we will end up with a president leading a far-right agenda in 2024. Floridians, Arizonans, and other outraged Americans have already taken to protesting and engaging in civil disobedience in opposition to these bills. Public policy should be about writing legislation that helps Americans, not targeting specific groups and slowly peeling back constitutional rights. 

When there’s news and outrage in America, it tends to be everyone's priority for a few weeks. People protest; they demand change. However, as soon as the next tragedy or outrage occurs, the news cycle moves on, as does every politician’s agenda and priorities. Take gun violence prevention as an example. There was Sandy Hook, and we were horrified. Then there was the Pulse nightclub, and we were outraged. Then Parkland, and Borderline, and a never-ending list because we have made no effective changes in policy to combat this issue. Bills like “Don’t Say Gay” need to be addressed immediately before they can take root and damage the lives of many Americans. These bills are hateful, non-inclusive, uneducated, and dangerous for so many individuals within these communities. The right to appropriate medical care and the right to bodily autonomy are fundamental human rights, and the political solution employed by many Republican lawmakers of denying the right to education and suppressing people’s voices is not a solution at all but a dangerous push toward autocracy. Leaving the fight for equality solely to groups affected by this legislation will place an undue burden upon this community to drive the necessary response against this prosecutorial legislation. It is morally incumbent upon each of us to take action locally and at the state level to protect these civil rights.  If we do nothing because these laws do not specifically apply to us, who will speak up when our rights are at risk?