Steven Rodriguez at Outright Libertarians blog:
Over at Reason.com, Scott Shackford asks if victory over marriage equality is where libertarians and the LGBTQ community part ways. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Outright has looked well beyond the day when marriage equality became a nationally guaranteed right. In fact, marriage equality is only the beginning. While Shackford acknowledges that there are still areas of agreement between Libertarians and the LGBTQ community, he omits far too many areas where government coercion is still harming our community:
· Abolish mandatory gender binary tracking and remove gender from federal documents.
Shackford is correct that it shouldn’t matter to the government why somebody identifies as transgender. I will add that it shouldn’t matter to the government how and why individuals identify at all. Individual rights transcend gender and sexuality. It is an affront to liberty to be forced into an outdated and unscientific gender binary system.
· Grant asylum to persecuted LGBTQ individuals.
We’ve made exceptional strides toward securing our rights here in the United States, elsewhere is a far different story. We cannot stand idly while our siblings fleeing countries such as Russia and Uganda are thrown in immigration detention centers or deported back to face their death sentences.
· Prohibit forced interventions; such as gender conversion therapies for minors
Children have every right to self-identification just as adults do. Forced conversion therapy is a travesty to liberty, as well as fraud and medical malpractice. We must fight to ban such practices for minors, and allow the right of emancipation for children in non-affirming homes.
· Repeal Federal and State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA), and allow freedom of contract between LGBTQ and religious business owners/patrons
Government should be no more or less inclined to burden religious liberty than it would other peaceful secular activities between private parties. The right of a business owner to deny service should not be limited to a religious basis. Religious freedom does not mean refusing to uphold one’s end of a contract.
· Legalize sex work
Laws against sex work disproportionately affect our community. Every day, sex workers are locked up and thrown into prisons where they face abuse not limited to rape and murder.
· Allow HIV+ patients any chosen medical care
This includes a full repeal on the ban against blood donations from gay men. Replacing a lifetime ban with a one-year waiting period is no more warranted and no less homophobic.
· Allow hate victims to defend themselves
Many non-violent offenders are denied the right to own and carry a firearm. Minority communities such as immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ and sex workers are among the most affected. Liberty includes the right to self-defense, especially for the weakest among us.
Many other areas of government coercion against LGBTQ individuals still exist and often overlap with other libertarian priorities; For instance, we should allow the option of school choice for children who face bullying in the public school system. Also, there are still areas in the public sector that still have discrimination written into law, including but not limited to employment, housing, military service, and adoption. So no, this is definitely not where libertarians part ways with the LGBTQ community. Our long-standing tradition of radical liberation continues.