It was a busy first week, and I learned all about dealing with aggrieved constituents at my host office. My first three days, I was inundated with constituent calls about assembly bills 223, 665, 957. These bills all essentially are focused on protecting queer and transgender youth and their right to privacy, and being able to come out at their own preference. First, AB 223 is essentially a bill that withholds any papers related to a person’s name change, change of gender or sex-identifier under 18, to be kept confidential from their parents. AB 665 expands mental health services to youth and allows them to receive counseling even if they don’t present a danger to anyone including themselves. This bill is helping provide youth the counseling services they need, and allows the medical professional to consult with the minor to see if they want to bring their family into the discussion. AB 957 would factor in a parents’ affirmation of their gender as part of the health and safety of their child. These bills all essentially help protect the privacy and safety of transgender youth, who often face higher rates of depressive symptoms, and have higher rates of suicidal ideation. Recently, other state legislatures have written bills targeting transgender youth, and my host office’s rigid support of these bills aligned with my personal values which made me feel more fulfilled working there. The sheer number of calls bombarded the office, with 5-10 calls being received each hour. It was also frustrating to deal with certain callers, who blatantly misconstrued what the bill did, claiming it took away parental rights from parents. “This is child grooming!” a caller would exclaim. Some callers were even homophobic and anti-queer which was demoralizing for the office because other peers and staffers who were queer had to deal with these hateful comments.
Intern William Chao deep in thought during a conversation.
Even though the entire office was exhausted due to all these calls, I felt that I learned how to deal with angry constituents and people that I personally disagreed with. Throughout our talks at CAUSE we’ve been discussing democracy and our own personal views on whether it is effective. Some people would claim that democracy is flawed, because people aren’t informed enough for public participation or hold views that they disagree with. Even though I wholeheartedly disagreed with their viewpoints and I thought these callers were being misinformed, I still appreciated how fellow citizens were exercising their right to voice their opposition. Ben Allen as a representative doesn’t just represent people that agree with him or donate to him, he represents his entire district. I learned to appreciate how even if you held a minority view, you could still project your views to him. Luckily the district we work in today is largely in favor of LGBTQ+ rights, and West Hollywood is one of the safest places for queer folks, but a few decades ago, support for queer people was the minority. Even today, support for LGBTQ+ rights is a minority in other states. If I were to be consistent with my democratic values, and believe that transgender and gay rights had a right to be fought for by the minority in other states, then I would have to reconcile with the truth that these callers had a right to voice their own opposition to these bills. The tricky thing about democracy is that it doesn’t always go your way, but it’s up to our generation to lead, convince and persuade.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by William Chao, Leadership Academy 2023 Intern.
The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a nine-week, paid, internship program that prepares college undergraduates to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community on their campuses and beyond.