This week (Nov. 14-20), individuals and organizations around the country will participate in Transgender Awareness Week, an effort to recognize these individuals and bring the issues that transgender people face to the forefront. Unfortunately, in Iowa, a lawsuit has surfaced around the same time. 

A Des Moines hotel, Drury Inn, is currently on the receiving end of a civil-rights complaint filed by a black transgender woman after she and a friend had the police called on them because of the assumption they were staying in the hotel to participate in sex work.

The two were on their way to attend a funeral in Kansas City, Missouri, last year. Along the way they checked into the West Des Moines hotel where Meagan Taylor, a “23-year-old cosmetology student,” was arrested and charged with not having the physical prescription for hormone medication prescribed to treat gender dysphoria. Taylor spent eight days in jail. Although the charges were dismissed and the bail was covered by donations, this is an unacceptable affront. 

Prejudice and bias should not be the formula that dictates the way our society functions. Culpability in this ordeal lies with both the hotel staff and the police called to investigate the situation. Despite the fact that there are states across the nation that allow hotels to refuse service to a transgender person, or to discriminate against them in other ways, and face no legal repercussions does not justify that type of business practice in any context. Just because the law allows for ignorance to seep into a business model does not mean the injustice has been alleviated. The law should not dictate our behavior. The desire to treat others with dignity and respect should not come about from fear of legal repercussions.     

Furthermore, in light of recent events, we may have forgotten that the primary function of a policing institution is the preservation of social order and the protection of citizens. That said, the policing institution has a responsibility to be knowledgeable and understanding of the population it has been trusted to police. A disconnect between the people and institution that is supposed to safeguard the liberty of those people gives opportunity for instances of blatant discrimination such as this. The policing institution’s protection should extend to all citizens of this country regardless of orientation and identity. While everyday citizens may be uninformed or unwilling to look past their preconceptions, those responsible for preserving some semblance of order and equality must hold themselves to a higher accord.

We must decide what kind of society we wish to be. The law is not beginning or end of our responsibility to one another, and our behavior should reflect that. At times, the depths of the world’s diversity extend further than our individual knowledge, but that does not give license to fill in those gaps with hatred and prejudice. Accommodations must be made for our lack of understanding, because all have a right to exist on this planet, as they are or how they want to be. It is no individual’s place to dictate how anyone else chooses to live her or his life. The steps toward becoming a more progressive and understanding will be found in going beyond what is mandated by laws and the status quo and stopping only when everyone, regardless of gender, orientation, and identity, can live freely.