The National LGBTQ Task Force is holding its annual Creating Change conference in Chicago this week. Attendees will be able to access a daylong racial justice institute, leadership training workshops, a state of the movement address, and sessions on people of color, transgender people, the gender non-binary, and much more. One program that won't be taking place, however, would have featured representatives from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And in another change Monday, the Task Force canceled a reception sponsored by A Wider Bridge for LGBT activists from Israel. (After an outcry from Jewish groups and others, the Task Force reinstated the reception the next day.) These examples of political correctness run amok show how some activists badgered Task Force officials into canceling the events because they feared attendees' "safe space" would be violated or that undocumented conference attendees would be put at risk.
Nonsense.
ICE is not a warm and fuzzy department. Operating out of the Department of Homeland Security, ICE agents have drawn the wrath of many LGBTQs because of alleged mistreatment of LGBT people in their custody. Only recently, according to a Washington Blade article that broke the cancelation news, has the department developed new guidelines for the treatment of trans detainees, including the requirement that detention facilities provide access to hormone therapy. The conference panel that was canceled would have brought a little clarity to how ICE operates. "The manner in which LGBTI individuals have been detained for immigration purposes has changed dramatically," reads the panel description. "Learn what positive steps U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has taken to ensure safe and secure environments for those in custody. Ask questions and provide input to the people drafting the policies for the agency regarding LGBTI care."
It's that last sentence that had us seeing red after learning that the Task Force had caved in to activists. Why not hear directly from the agency that's charged with immigration issues? What better opportunity to get federal officials on the record than at one of the community's largest conferences, replete with ubiquitous cellphone video and LGBTQ bloggers and reporters? It would have been a great chance for people involved in policy development to hear from LGBTs. Yes, the Task Force missed the boat on this one. And its actions show why these gatherings are often so one-sided, with a feel-good vibe that may make for friendly conversations at the bar but do little to advance equality. It's as though some activists only want to hear from those with whom they agree.
In the case of the reception, Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey said in a statement that it was canceled because it became clear it would be "intensely divisive." The organization was accused of being "anti-Jewish" and "anti-Semitic," Carey stated, "which is wrong and deeply painful to those of us in the National LGBTQ Task Force family."
These cancelations are not the way to create change.
Real change involves unpleasant conversations, compromise, a willingness to listen to others, and action �" in short, having a dialogue. In our hyped-up society, you're shouted down on social media and bullied into silence if you dare say something unpopular or that goes against the prevailing views on your news feed. Rare is the person who bucks the trend. The Task Force should have kept the ICE panel, and, for that matter, should have invited officials from the Transportation Security Administration, too. The TSA has been criticized for its treatment of transgender airline passengers because its screening protocols don't always match a person's preferred gender identity, creating an embarrassing situation that can turn into humiliation, as a woman experienced in Florida last year. But we can hear the howls of protest from the same folks who pressured the Task Force to cancel the ICE panel: "People won't feel safe." Well, life often involves uncomfortable situations. If someone doesn't feel safe at a panel, they can opt not to attend. Their preferences should not trump others who could gain valuable information from or spark a conversation with federal officials. Remember, these bureaucrats don't often escape their own comfortable environment and they were willing to attend the conference. By disinviting them the Task Force squandered a unique opportunity for the officials to hear directly from LGBTQ people with the goal of improving their policies and standards.
The Task Force had good intentions by scheduling the ICE panel, which likely would have been well attended. It's a shame that officials were overrun by naysayers, most of whom could have benefited from the diversity of views that the Task Force is usually known for.