Thao Ta | WJTV | October 23, 2020
With Election Day approaching, the ACLU of Mississippi wants to make sure voting is fair for members of the transgender and gender-nonconforming community.
The issue comes down to showing an ID at the polls. Some states, including Mississippi, require voters to show identification in order to vote.
Leaders with the ACLU said that IDs often reveal a transpersons’ status, and transpeople will avoid doing things that require showing identification.
The ACLU wants to change that. The organization created pocket-sized booklets for the transgender and gender-nonconforming community to show poll workers, if asked about why they may not look like their ID.
ACLU leaders said it’s a step in the right direction, but they believe more needs to be done to ensure safe voting for the trans community.
“The state of Mississippi has a long way to come, just with not even so much discrimination, as people don’t even know that we exist here. I think is a big issue,” said Ryan Anderson.
Fifty-three percent of trans people reported being harassed in public spaces, according to the ACLU.
The National Center for Transgender Equality’s 2015 survey stated only 11 percent of 1.4 million of the transgender population in the United States has identification that represents their accurate identity.
