The one finger salute from Secretary Clinton?

Is Secretary Clinton giving the trans community the one finger salute?

Well, it seems like it to me.

Before I start here, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a #BernieOrBust gal. If Secretary Hillary Clinton is the Democratic candidate for president this November, she has my vote. And, I vote.

But, I want to know where Secretary Clinton stands on the issues I care about most – transgender civil rights issues. I care deeply about ordinary equality and social justice for the transgender people of our nation, be they trans women, trans men, genderqueer people or gender nonconforming people. These are all my community siblings.

And, my community has public issues that need addressing across a broad spectrum. We have public basic civil rights issues, such as housing, employment and public accommodations issues. We have public access issues regarding access to appropriate healthcare, access to appropriate identification documents and equal access to education. And, my community has civil rights issues around immigration, incarceration and open military service that need addressing.

The Trans United Fund’s 501(c)(4) created a questionnaire that asked the three remaining presidential candidates in the two major parties what their stands are on transgender public issues. Here’s a sprinkling of the questions:

• Do you support access for trans people to medically-necessary transition-related healthcare, as defined by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and support by the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association?

• Do you support rules for allowing trans servicemembers to transition, socially and medically and to be protected from discrimination?

• Law Enforcement – Trans people, particularly trans people of color, face disproportionate rates of negative interaction with law enforcement, arrest and profiling, detention and imprisonment, particularly for victimless crimes. Research shows that nearly half of trans people fear to approach law enforcement officials when they are the victim of a crime. How would you address discrimination by law enforcement systems and work to reduce the negative impact of these systems on trans communities?

• Incarceration – Trans people are disproportionately more likely to face discrimination, be subject to solitary confinement and face sexual abuse in prison, jail and detention systems. How would you reduce incarceration of trans people, prevent discrimination against trans prisoners and mitigate violence against trans prisoners?

• Immigration – Trans immigrants face higher barriers to emigrate to the U.S., to obtain asylum, to obtaining appropriate healthcare, and to find work that allows them to remain in the U.S. Moreover, trans people that are subject to immigration-related detention face staggering rates of violence and sexual abuse. How would you work to ensure trans migrant populations are properly cared for in the U.S.?

There are many more questions, and some as tough as or tougher than these. Sen. Bernie Sanders answered the questions, and was very supportive of the transgender community – but he’s not likely at all to be the Democratic nominee for president at this point.

If Secretary Clinton doesn’t answer the questions on the questionnaire, she’s not on record on what policies she does and doesn’t support, and what she can say she’s taking a defensive posture on without saying she broke a promise to the community.

I’m guessing Secretary Clinton’s campaign is calculating we’ll vote for her whether or not she fills out the survey – better not to be on the record having promises to break or giving ammunition to the Republican opposition – the fairly unpalatable Donald Trump.

What pressure is there that we can bring to bear to get Secretary Clinton to answer questions from the trans community? Because it will take pressure for her to respond, I’m sure.