Transgender Rights
Published on: 3/31/23
Author: Alexis Krohn
#TogetherAgainstBias
Here’s a fantastic link to a speech by Ben Greene, friend of Calico.
Hoo-boy. This year… is a doozie. The Trans Day of Visibility is today, and it is perhaps the most important Day of Visibility to date. We’re watching transphobic commentators, politicians, and news outlets trotting out the same, tired transphobic slurs - that trans people are a danger to others, and especially kids. I said recently, “the 80s called, they want their homophobic slurs back.” It’s all the ages-old scapegoating tactics being trotted out again and again and again. And they’re ramping up.
Hateful groups are trying to deny gender-affirming healthcare to minors, despite the fact that it literally saves lives. Trans youth are at a much higher risk of depression and suicide than cisgender youth, or even than other queer youth; gender-affirming healthcare alleviates this, and saves lives.
Hateful people are passing waves of anti-trans bills in sports, as well. They’re passing laws trying to say that we can’t talk about queer people in school, despite the fact that we talk about straight people in school every day, without any accusations of indoctrination into a “cisgender ideology.”
These hate groups are not only trying to deny gender-affirming healthcare to minors anymore, either - they’re also seeking to deny it to full adults, who are able to serve in the military, purchase firearms, and more.
As always, it was never about bathrooms for these people. It’s not about sports. It’s not about gender-affirming care, either. It’s simply about pushing a hateful rhetoric that seeks to wipe transgender people out of both history and the present, and more and more bigots are saying that part clearly and loud.
If you have Trans friends or family, they need your help now, more than ever. Stand up for them. If people around you say transphobic things, have conversations about it with them. If they try to defend it as “just their protected religious view,” remind them that we wouldn’t say “racism isn’t just a protected religious view,” and it shouldn’t apply to queer people, either. It is, and always has been, clear and plain bigotry. As we watch, hate groups are trying to pin the blame for a recent tragedy on transgender people - despite the fact that these same voices have never once taken the multitude of crimes by straight white men to be a condemnation against straight people, white people, or men.
At the same time, I also encourage you to search out tales of trans joy. The Trans Day of Visibility is also a day for seeing how people (yours truly, Alexis, included) have found such joy and fulfillment in coming out of the closet, in being our most authentic selves. While many transgender people are more fearful these days than we have been in the past, we are also still filled with wonder and happiness. Follow some trans people on social media. Consume literature and other media featuring trans folk, and not just our struggles, but our triumphs. Friend of Calico Ben Greene recently gave a speech about trans rights, and I also encourage you to watch this speech by Ben Greene, friend of Calico. Continue to educate yourself. We can stand up to the hate.